dedicated to pinpointing discreet connections between apparently isolated or little-known authors and works, thus prone to the closest scrutiny of letters, prefaces, dedicatory poems and introductory epistles, Secret appeared sometimes less immediately concerned with the large-scale history of ideas and/or the detailed developments affecting different tenets. Such elements he of course never ignored, but frequently dispatched in a seemingly detached manner, within a condensed number of lines, thus rendering them decipherable only to the most seasoned conoscenti. Indeed, he was sometimes reproached for his lack of interest in general synthesis, but nonetheless always remained skeptical of an approach which, in his discipline, seemed to him (and not entirely without justification) somewhat premature. His last lectures at the École pratique, Secret devoted to early modern christian theurgy (Libanius Gallus and Trithemius, in ms. texts taken up again since by J. Dupèbe and C. Gilly), but none of his students or friends will ever forget the almost daily “informal seminars” of the National Library, where he freely bestowed upon us all the combined treasuries of his immense erudition, kindness, humour and refreshing unpretentiousness. Only a severe illness kept him, in his very last years, from yet adding more to his impressive series of scholarly publications, leading from his classic Le Zohar chez les kabbalistes chrétiens de la Renaissance (Paris, Durlacher, 1958) to Postel revisité – nouvelles recherches sur G. Postel et son milieu (Paris – Milan, S.E.H.A. – Archè, 1998; there remain some unpublished text editions and materials). To this pioneer and master of the study of Western esotericism, a Festschrift was presented, on his 90th birthday, by his students and friends (Documents oubliés sur la kabbale, l’alchimie et Guillaume Postel… [S. Matton ed.], Geneva, Droz, 2001; cf. Aries 3:2, 257-261). Secret was married twice, and had one daughter. Jean-Pierre Brach

a work that has come down to us only in manuscript form but was widely read in Rosicrucian circles during the 18 th century.
. Brunnhofer’s strict allegorism provoked two other alchemists to “chemicalise” his metaphorical alchemy.and Moonchild) by the monogramist L.und Mondskind (Hermaphrodite Sun.und Mondskind of L. Brunnhofer used two treatises for his alchemical pictorial Von der hermetischen Kunst: 1) a German doctrinal poem of the 16th century on Mercurius philosophorum. and 2) the Hermaphroditisches Sonn. resulting in two treatises: 1) the Buch der Weisheit (Book of Wisdom). (1752). Brunnhofer teaches in parabolic depiction an alchemy based on Sol. written by Raphael Egli. titled Sermo philosophicus (in print since 1605). (1752).und Monds-Kind.C. The present study is the first to give a complete survey of the tradition of this German Alchimia picta in manuscripts and prints from the 18th to the 20 th century. and 2) the Güldene Gedicht (Golden Poem)/Carmen Apollineum“ (in print since 1606). Scholars of the history of alchemy and lovers of early modern emblematic literature are generally familiar with the richly illustrated treatise Von der hermetischen Kunst (Of the Hermetic Art) in an annotated version in Hermaphroditisches Sonn. It also identifies the hitherto unknown author: Johann Augustin Brunnhofer.S.26
JOACHIM TELLE
A German Alchimia Picta of the 17th Century: Notes on the Verse/Image-Tract Von der hermetischen Kunst by Johann Augustin Brunnhofer and to his annotated editions in the Buch der Weisheit and in the Hermaphroditisches Sonn. Luna and Mercurius. an alchemist working in the second half of the 17 th century. It is these works that secured a place for Brunnhofer’s Von der hermetischen Kunst in the alchemical writing of the 18 th century. a theo-alchemist.C.S.

In the first. Working the Rough Stone. In a thorough investigation of manuscripts in Moscow archives 4 we discovered dozens of texts related to Kabbalah. which lasted up to the early 1780s. ‘Kabbalistic Exegetics and Christian Dogmatics’. accepted in the Craft from the very beginning: Pupil. so that some researchers insist that Russian masons were not concerned with Kabbalah and alchemy at all. 125. For further details. Below we try to describe the kabbalistic concepts which were especially interesting to Russian masons and contributed greatly to their social and political thinking. propagated among the masons according to their rules and traditions. when the “higher degrees”. and was used in practice when carrying out masonic works. ‘Russian Masonry in the Eighteenth Century’. ‘Kabbalah in Russian Masonry’. in the Russian State Archive of Ancient Acts (RSAAA). Apprentice and Master. 6 That is these lodges comprised only three Masonic degrees. The third period. learning and interpretation.
. freemasonry was ‘the first moral philosophy in Russia. three first degrees of “St. or “symbolic” freemasonry prevailed’6 . translated and used in their practical life not only the texts of the Christian kabbalists but also original Jewish writings. covers the 1780s7 . 7 See Semeka. dominated in Russia. especially the Rosicrucians. freemasonry was ‘merely a fashionable thing borrowed from the West without any criticism’. In addition. the question of the role of Kabbalah in masonic tradition is extremely important5 .28
KONSTANTIN BURMISTROV
& MARIA ENDEL
peded study. 30-52. In the second period. 5 By “Masonic tradition” we have in mind a complex system of theological. In our view. philosophical and mystical ideas which penetrated masonic teaching. including both translations from different languages (probably including Hebrew) and original compositions. we describe some Russian masons who have read. Special attention is paid here to individuals interested in Jewish mysticism. Burmistrov. This paper is an analysis of the kabbalistic constituent of masonic teaching. Thus this notion includes not only a set of concepts but also a specific system of their treating. we attempted to find possible intermediaries who participated in transmission of this knowledge to their Russian masonic brothers. see Smith. The government per-
4 We refer mostly to the MS documents which are contained in the Division of Manuscripts (DMS) of the Russian State Library (RSL). see: Burmistrov and Endel. Historical introduction Three main periods are normally discerned in the history of Russian freemasonry during the 18th century. from the 1740s to the enthronement of Catherine the Great in 1762. Jones”. and in the Russian State Historical Archive of Moscow (RSHAM). For a review of the Russian mason’s practices.

To create this new morality. 500. to allow common people to reason tended to result in destroying the whole job. headed by Ivan P. The trends were strongly interrelated. The masons began to recover gradually their activity only after the death of Catherine II and the enthronement of Paul I. it did allow neither to Voltaire’s writings nor to those of other so-called new philosophers and encyclopaedists to convert my soul entirely [to their faith]’. literary preferences. and masonic activists such as Ivan Lopukhin and Aleksey Kutuzov. 140-56 (Ch. see also Vernadsky. social and political views. in Voltaire’s view. A similarly critical attitude to Voltairianism was evinced by the head of Moscow “mystical” masons. Curiously. Two principal trends may be identified in Russian freemasonry of the late 18th–early 19th centuries: rationalistic (deistic) and mystical. the leader of the masonic union. Russian Masonry in the Reign of Catherine the Great. See Vernadsky. Encouraged by the “enlightened” Empress Catherine II. Pt. studied kabbalistic teachings and used them in his own writings. 11 Elagin wrote later: ‘I was attracted by godless writers who converted Christian faith into blasphemy and Holy Scriptures into mockery. It is obvious that any interest in mystical matters in such a milieu was next to impossible. Russian Voltaireans sought to elaborate a new morality based on reason but not on Christian ethics9 . Rationalistic freemasonry reached its acme in the 1760s70s. 2: ‘Masonry and Voltairianism’). the “mystical” masons. noted that properly speaking ‘Masonic lodges of the 1770s were Voltairian institutions’. Helvetius […] This reading corrupted my soul […] and misled me […] But the Actual Grace did not want my complete perdition. having “recovered” from Voltairianism. ‘Russian Masonry in the Eighteenth century’. natural law and physiocratism. These lodges were characterized by weak discipline and liberalism. Petersburg. 228–29. however. Russian Masonry in the Reign of Catherine the Great. scoffs. See Novikov. Elagin. In their outlook.KABBALAH AND RUSSIAN FREEMASONS
29
secutions in the early 1790s put an end to the expansion of freemasonry. Semeka. In the 1770s the centres of the novel “religion of reason” became lodges of the first Russian masonic union in St. Professor Johann Schwarz. Karp. it was necessary. to establish a tightly-knit secret organization for. Voltaire and Russia. 263 et al. Freemasonry and Russian Culture. zealous supporters of the ideas of Enlightenment. see Mikhailov and Stroiev (eds.). 10 On the relationship between Russian Masons and Voltairians. up to 1822 when Alexander I prohibited every freemasonic activity in Russian. 2. Elagin (1725-1793)10 .
. and sneer […] I became acquainted with atheists and deists […] Boulanger […] Voltaire. The second trend in Russian freemasonry of the 18th century. these masons were almost identical with Russian Voltaireans8 . 9 On the Russian Voltairian movement. 132-49. 158. This process continued at the early 19 th century. Russian Masonry in the Reign of Catherine the Great. involved stronger discipline in the lodges and unconditional submis-
8 Vernadsky. French Enlighteners and Russia. he broke away from rationalistic freemasonry11 . At first. Rousseau. he was also a Voltaire enthusiast but later.

See Sokolovskaia. and dreamed of being members of an “invisible universal Capitulum” which. a masonic union of the Swedish system with “Capitulum Phoenix” at the head.30
KONSTANTIN BURMISTROV
& MARIA ENDEL
sion to their chiefs. Two great masonic systems are discernible within this trend. Paris. The Swedish lodges in Russia consisted mostly of noblemen who were strongly involved in political intrigues and had only little interest in mystical matters. granted to Adam)15 . La Rose-Croix et ses Rapports avec la Franc-Maçonnerie. He possessed a rich collection of books and manuscripts on the secret sciences. see Yates. id. published a
See Sokolovskaia.P. Working in the deepest secrecy (most of its members were unknown to the government and even to the ordinary masons). Das aeltere Rosenkreuzertum. Histoire des Rose-Croix.
12 13
. 23-37. The Rose Cross and the Age of Reason. governed all the world14 . a Silesian minister. Born in Weimar. and their Grand Secretary was one of the most authoritative Russian masons I.V. founded secret “theoretical” lodges. There are several versions of its appearance. and Swedenborg’s teaching. Capitilum Phoenix. The Order of Gold and Rosy Cross emerged in Germany in the mid-1750s. magic and alchemy. Beber (1746–1820)13 . Beber was a Lutheran. Capitilum Phoenix. 15 On the history of the Rosicrucian tradition. Petersburg. the teaching of the Order of Gold and Rosy Cross came to Russia from Germany and became the second movement of Russian “mystical” freemasonry. devoted mystics and theosophers. Waite. In the early 18th century. there appeared some writings on the teaching and main structural principles of a Rosicrucian Order. They studied Kabbalah. Arnold. The Brotherhood of the Rosy Cross. Gagarin (1745–1808). In 1710 Samuel Richter. however. in the 1780s. “Capitulum Phoenix” strongly affected almost all masonic activity in Russia in the late 18 th–early 19th centuries. 75-77. 14 See Sokolovskaia. “Capitulum Phoenix”. The Grand Prefect of the Capitulum and the Grand Master of the Great National Lodge (Swedish system) was Prince G. its members belonged mostly to the high life. Beber had a passion for numerology. and was a corresponding member of the Russian Academy of Sciences. Kabbalah. comprised. 1955. The Rosicrucian Enlightenment. he taught physics and mathematics in the higher schools at St. 49-50. they claimed that this tradition descended from the Primordial doctrine. Their leadership. 53. as they believed. McIntosh. Let us briefly consider the history of this Order. See also Schick. The first was the so-called “Knighthood”. Splendid rituals were typical of this freemasonry. At the same time. 58. The Rosicrucians themselves believed that the Order had been a successor of the ancient Rosicrucian tradition which arose in the fourteenth century and was manifested openly in the early seventeenth century (in turn. Capitilum Phoenix.. founded in the late 1770s12 .

Aufbruch zur Romantik. ‘Die hebräischen Quellen der Kabbala Denudata’. known for his translations of kabbalistic texts and the compiler of the anthology Kabbala Denudata 19 . in the last quarter of the seventeenth century. See also McIntosh. 67-126. Numerous Rosicrucian centres were scattered throughout southern Germany. 18 See his Rosicrucian works: Schleiss von Löwenfeld. ‘Lexikographische Konstruktion der Kabbala’. Theo-Philosophia Theoretico-Practica. 201-20..KABBALAH AND RUSSIAN FREEMASONS
31
treatise entitled Theo-Philosophia Theoretico-Practica16 . von Wöllner. id. W. 96-100. The Order was founded by Bernhard Joseph Schleiss von Löwenfeld (1731-1800). Francis Mercury van Helmont (1614-98). ‘Hebräische Sprachmetaphysik und lateinische Kabbalistik’. then the centre of their activity moved to Berlin17 . Among the leaders of the movement were Bernhard J. an explosion of Rosicrucian groups and circles in Germany and Austria occurred. lived and worked Christian Knorr von Rosenroth (1636-89). 2. ‘Synopse zu Knorr von Rosenroths Kabbala Denudata’. He took an obvious interest in Kabbalah as if following the traditions of the Sulzbach Christian Kabbalah of the late seventeenth century. Unions and Orders. B. Secret Societies. 329-335. 100-52.J. Bd. La franc-maçonnerie templière et occultiste aux XVIIIe et XIXe siècles.and Rosy Cross. 341-376. The most important concepts of the Order had their source in Kabbalah: the idea on the
Sincerus Renatus [S. F 147. Geoffenbarter Einfluss in das allgemeine Wohl der Staaten (Russian printed translation: Moscow. In Germany. the Duke of Sulzbach. 25-75. in 1755-56. Burmistrov. Le Forestier. which contained a strictly elaborated plan of a secret Rosy and Cross Order. (Phoebron). id. These were the real creators of the famous secret organization known as the Order of the Gold. Der im Lichte der Wahrheit strahlende Rosenkreuzer (Russian MS translation: DMS RSL. Hungary and northern Italy. see McIntosh. Grassl. Vol. and taught in his own writings how to regain a true spiritual teaching. “new” Rosicrucians “debuted” first in Sulzbach.. Schleiss von Löwenfeld. The Rose Cross and the Age of Reason.. N181). Schuster. 7. V. It is no wonder that several decades later Schleiss reproduced the ideas of Knorr. The Rose Cross and the Age of Reason. The Impact of the Kabbalah in the Seventeenth Century. For the most detailed analysis of the history and ideology of the order. 30-36. see Der Signatstern oder die enthüllten sieben Grade der mystischen Freimaurerei. McIntosh. from the alphabet of Nature. On the history of the Order. Kilcher. S.
16 17
. Johann G. Under the influence of freemasonry in the mid-18th century. Austria. Schröder and Johann Ch. ‘Kabbala Denudata Rediscovered’. 1816). 63-78. and other Christian kabbalists of that group. 63-108.. Schrepfer. Curiously. the “authentic Kabbalah”. a physician to the ducal house at Sulzbach who later received an earlship and became a councilor of the duke 18 . 8). 19 See Coudert. Under the aegis of Prince Christian-August (1622-1702). Sulzbach had become a centre of Christian kabbalistic studies. Friedrich J. id. Richter]. id. The Rosy Cross Unveiled (ch.

Tiferet (“Beauty”). id. they are ten attributes of the Creator: 1.). 8. Masonry in Russia. N 294. Malkhut (“Kingdom”). The concept of Sefirot has the central place in the theosophy of Jewish Kabbalah. Das Lehrsystem der Gold. 237. 194-231.. The book
20 Sefirah (Heb. the Infinite. 21 Adam Kadmon (the Primordial Man) – the first emanation of the Divine light as well as the ensemble of worlds of light. Kilcher. and Geheime Figuren der Rosenkreuzer aus dem 16ten und 17ten Jahrhundert (1785-88). This Tree is considered a dynamic unity where the Divine manifestation is unfolded. Russian translation: Vkhod v perviy klass Dostokhval’neishego Ordena Zlato-Rosovogo Kresta. which was extremely popular in the masonic milieu27 . corresponding them to ten stages of the alchemical process. etc. 190. N 65). Nezah (“Victory”. Gedullah (“Greatness”). 10. Die Sprache Adams. Binah (“Intelligence”). It is noteworthy that all the abovementioned kabbalistic ideas adopted by this Order were later incorporated by the Russian masons25 . the teaching on the “Primordial Language” 22 and a prophetic interpretation of the Scriptures. 26 See ‘Eingang zur ersten Classe des preisswürdigsten Ordens vom Goldenen Rosen Creutze nach der letzten Haupt. At the same time. Kabbalah. f. The Language of Adam. See also Longinov. Sefirot are conceived as ten stages of emanation from EinSof.und Reformations-Convention’. 7. 3. 2. Hokhmah (“Wisdom”). Novikov and Moscow Martinists. 10. and many others 23 . Sefirot) – literally “number”. N 180. See Beyer. 9. the instructions for the Fifth Grade of the Order contain a description of the Tree of Sefirot. The Rosy Cross Unveiled. Each Sefirah denotes a certain aspect of God as a Creator. 137-142. Hallamish. Secret Societies. The history of the Order was described in detail in the book The Compass of Wisemen. 147. doctrines of mystical numbers and Adam Kadmon 21 . 14. Unions and Orders. “Charity”). The ultimate goal of the Order is described as follows: ‘To awake hidden forces of nature. to liberate the natural light which was deeply buried under the dross after the damnation. DMS RSL. or Din (“Judgement”). See Scholem. 181. 6. See Scholem. Hod (“Majesty”). Der Compass der Weisen. Kabbalah. 121-166. The doctrine and rites of the Order are also considered in Magister Pianco (Hans Heinrich von Ecker und Eckhoffen). Vol. a statutory act for the members of the Order. 182. Starke Erweise aus den eigenen Schriften des hochheiligen Ordens Gold. 23 For further details see McIntosh. 5. J. 75.und Rosencreutzer. 4. 210. F. Jewish elements played an important role in Rosicrucian rituals24 . God Himself. pl.). 82-85. Freimäurische
. and to kindle in every brother a burning torch that would help him to see easy the concealed God […] and thus to join more closely to the primeval Source of Light’26 . Pypin. F. the main theoretical manual for Western and Russian Rosicrucians (see its Russian translations: DMS RSL. (ed. 22 On this concept see Coudert (ed. Yesod (“Foundation”). 24 Schuster. in: Bode.). or Hesed (“Love”. Keter (“Crown”).und Rosenkreuzer. developed on the first stage of emanation. A number of hermeneutic and numerological practices borrowed from the Christian Kabbalah mentioned and used in these texts.32
KONSTANTIN BURMISTROV
& MARIA ENDEL
Tree of ten Sefirot 20 .J. or “Eternity”). the universal structure of the whole creation. Die Sprachtheorie der Kabbala als ästhetisches Paradigma. 25 See the main documents of the Order: Tabula mystica (1777). 82-94. 27 Ketmia Vere (pseud. 96–116. F. Geburah (“Power”). ‘Hebräische Sprachmetaphysik und lateinische Kabbalistik’. For example. The ten Sefirot together form the Tree of Sefirot. An Introduction to the Kabbalah. 2.

Serkov and Reizin (eds. 1784). were the chiefs of the Moscow Brothers and the main source of masonic information and mystical literature. 28 See Schuster. The author was apparently Johann Christoph von Wöllner (1732-1800)28 . Baron Heinrich-Jacob Schröder (1757-c. under Leopold II (1747-1792). Novikov. one of the greatest German masons and an ideologist of the Order.und Rosenkreutzer des alten Systems (Russian translations was published in the secret Masonic typography. 2. 30 See about him: Barskov. Russian Masonry. The Rose Cross and the Age of Reason. its author was Schleiss von Löwenfeld. ‘Rosicrucians in Russia in the Seventeenth and Eighteenth Centuries’. 7: ‘A Rosicrucian on the Prussian Throne’). Wöllner. the Holy Roman Emperor from 1790 to 1792.KABBALAH AND RUSSIAN FREEMASONS
33
contains many variously transformed kabbalistic concepts and references to some kabbalistic sources. Vol. the Order began to act in Russia. Letters of N. One of their leaders. 31 On the penetration of Rosicrucian ideas to Russia see Gilly. Secret Societies. and persecutions of the enlighteners began. and their envoy in Moscow. Francis II (1768-1835). Johann Rudolph von Bischofswerder (1741-1803). the head of the Department of religious affairs.1797)30 . In the south too. convinced Prince Friedrich-Wilhelm (1744-1797). the Rosicrucians began to make internal and external policy in Prussia. Moscow. established a religious censorship. Unions and Orders.). After interdiction of alchemy in Austria (1785). Wöllner. In 1790 it again rose to the surface for a while. A. Following his death in 1792 the new emperor.
. Wöllner and Bischofswerder were appointed to ministerial posts and became intimate advisors of Friedrich-Wilhelm. banned the Order once again 29 . a kind of Lutheran inquisition (1791). 905. to join the Order and in 1781 Friedrich-Wilhelm became a member (his Order name was Ormesus Magnus). who was known for his ultra-conservative religious views. According to an another version. 29 See McIntosh. 64. He was one of the most capable of the 18 th-century reformist rulers known as the “enlightened despots” and took a deep interest in alchemy and Kabbalah. as well as Johann Ch. following the death of Friedrich-Wilhelm II. Following his enthronement. the Prussian heir apparent. it continued to work illegally. 113-131 (ch. Serkov. Russian masons had already known about the Rosicrucians in the mid-1770s31 .I. 215234 (excerpts from Schröder’s diary). 295. 54-64. however. Theden (1714-1797). The political power of the Order in Prussia came to end in 1797. the Order was suppressed. In the 1780s the Rosicrucians gained considerable influence at the Prussian court. “Immediat-Examinations-Kommission”. Correspondence of the Russian Masons of the 18th Century. A set of right-wing political and religious thinkers belonging to the German intellectual establishment gathered around Wöllner. only after Johann
Versammlungsreden der Gold.

J. see: Matter. introduced by the German Rosicrucians. 102-104. the putative future “Holy King”)36 . ‘Ein verschollener jüdischer Mystiker der Aufklärungszeit. Panin (1718-1783) and Peter I. 107-111. Smith. ‘Moscow Freemasons and the Rosicrucian Order’. one of the most prominent Russian masons. Panin (1721-1789) seeking contacts with Crown Prince Paul (in their view. in their practices of God-knowing. see Scholem. They pondered over an ideal masonic state ruled by a mystical Order. 33 See Vernadsky. Russian Masonry in the Reign of Catherine the Great. ‘Moscow Freemasons and the Rosicrucian Order’. acts of the “Theoretic Degree”32 and permission to begin the work in Moscow 33 . 36 On them and their masonic activity see: Ransel. The centre of their activity was the Moscow circle of Johann Schwarz and Nikolay I. ‘Novikov’s Rosicrucian circle: promulgation of a new ethic ideal and lifestyle’. the so-called “Theoretic Degree of Solomon Sciences”. On kabbalistic elements in the views of Saint-Martin and his teacher. Christian kabbalists as well as European mystics of the 17th– 18th centuries. Novikov (1744-1818). 209-210. Jaques-Chaquin. 37. Inspired by the ideas of Louis-Claude de Saint Martin (1743-1803)35 and German Rosicrucians. 198-232. The influence of the Order was so great that after 1780s two parallel and almost independent trends existed in Russian freemasonry: the traditional masons and the Rosicrucians 34 . Below we concentrate only on masonic circles whose members were deeply involved in studying theoretical facets of European mysticism. Saint-Martin. E. Their social and political views were imbued with conservatism and religious enthusiasm. Working the Rough Stone. Ryu. 51-62. under the sovereignty of the “Holy King”. Martines de Pasqually. Ryu. Kwaadgrass.34
KONSTANTIN BURMISTROV
& MARIA ENDEL
Georg Schwarz (1751-1784). they considered religion and the masonic movement instruments to preserve the political system and social stability. Working the Rough Stone. mystical contemplation and praying. alchemists. they elaborated their own doctrine. ‘Freemasonry and Its Relationship with the Rosicrucian Doctrine’. See also Fajonato. Smith. met in 1782 Wöllner and Theden during a visit to Germany. The Rosicrucians approached the conservative party of Counts Nikita I. The strongest interest in Jewish Kabbalah was manifested among the Russian Rosicrucians.
. 34 Serkov. This activity resulted in persecution of Russian masons. The History of Russian Masonry in the 19th century. It is noteworthy that we mean a rather small group of individuals
32 One of the higher masonic degree. Hirschfeld’. 35 On Saint-Martin and his doctrine. The Politics of Catherinian Russia. 254-259. Having revised the ideas of ancient and medieval Christian mystics. ‘La Philosophie de la Nature chez Louis-Claude de Saint-Martin’. who fell into disgrace with the government in the late 1780s-early 1790s. 24-26. alchemy and Kabbalah and who sought to embody their knowledge in their own compositions. Le philosophe inconnu. 38–50. He received from them an appointment as ‘the only Supreme Director’ of the Rosicrucian Order in the Russian Empire. 314–332.

theosophers. even if this term is used there it has only a “metaphorical” sense. the same masons are known to have belonged to several Rites simultaneously and even to have held there the leading offices. theoretic manuals. the interest in Kabbalah and other secret sciences in Russian masonry was characteristic not for certain Rites.
. catechisms. For example. pietists. Gregory Palamas) which were extremely important for them. Most of the Russian Rosicrucians and “theoretic” masons were true Orthodox Christians well-read in patristic literature. 37 On the contrary. define to a great extent the originality of their masonic views. It is also important to emphasize the strong influence exerted to the mystical strivings of the Russian masons by Russian Orthodoxy. St. etc. In masonic documents as such. Strikt. Therefore it is difficult to define the things they truly believed when analyzing official documents of this or that masonic system they belonged to. Simeon the New Theologian. Maximus the Confessor. They were a minority in Russian masonry (about 23%) but had a great authority and influence. or a political institution. but for the individual spiritual and intellectual quest of some Russian mystics. etc. (Pseudo)-Dionysius Areopagita. In our opinion. It is necessary also to discriminate masonic documents such as statutes. Orders and Degrees. but his lodges did not deal with Kabbalah and other occult teachings at all. or a salon for amusements. The doctrines of Western masonry were perceived by the Russian Brothers with great criticism. from manifold writings which comprised the “circle of reading” of the Russian masons (a great bulk of translated and original texts including patristic literature. books of Catholic and Protestant mystics. St. and some treatises on historiosophy and theology written by the Russian Brothers). St. The structure of masonry in Russia was rather flexible: some lodges and unions could fiercely fight with each other but after a while they united together (as it happened in the 1770s with Elagin’s English union and Reuchel’s Swedish-Berlin lodges).KABBALAH AND RUSSIAN FREEMASONS
35
(mostly Rosicrucians and the members of the Theoretical Degree) different to a great extent from both the most Russian and European Brothers who considered freemasonry something like an affinity group. the Templers. The Byzantine and Russian Orthodox spiritual traditions (St. the chief of the first masonic English union in Russia (see below). alchemists. the “circle of
37 See on this “metaphorical” Kabbalah Kilcher’s Die Sprachtheorie der Kabbala als ästhetisches Paradigma. it is hardly possible to find any references to Kabbalah.early 19th centuries: Ecossais Rectifeé. among the main enthusiasts of Kabbalah was Ivan Elagin.and LaxeObservanz. Besides. There is almost no evidence concerning any interest for Kabbalah in the main masonic Rites working in Russia in the late 18th .

36
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& MARIA ENDEL
masonic reading” contains dozens of texts relating to Christian and Jewish Kabbalah (see below). however. Letters of N. with a definite set of stereotypes and symbols and an inevitable taint of mystery and feeling of selectivity. we feel an enormous and astonishingly forceful longing for a faith-cure of the world and for the transfiguration of man. In a broader context. As was noted by G. 115. in addition to special masonic editions. for example. Novikov. was developing. This should explain the highly active social position of many masons during the age of Catherine the Great. Paths of Russian Theology. See Serkov and Reizin (eds. the Russian soul goes back to itself after a long period of dissipation […] This was spiritual awakening from a dead faint’ 39 . The spiritual image of Russian masons First. I. Their Weltanschauung is commonly considered as a reaction to Voltairianism. hundreds of books were translated and published. Florovsky. Novikov. a specific “mystical” sub-culture. the Russian theologian. Russian masons were eclectic in what they read and in their religious exercises. ‘All the historic importance of the Russian freemasonry resided in the fact that it represented psychological ascesis and reintegration of the [Russian] soul. it is difficult to imagine how they could combine Orthodox piety with alchemic works and kabbalistic practice. the so-called “freethinking”38 . 134. In the last quarter of the 18th century. Due to his work. ‘Russian Masonry in the Eighteenth century’. we try to present a brief description of the spiritual image of those who felt themselves to be members of the Rosicrucian Order.
. They included writings by Oriental and European Christian mystics as well as com38 39 40
See. was typical of those who belonged to this subculture 40 . An extremely intensive spiritual life focused on a continuous search for the true path. Fore example. a great role in Russian enlightenment was played by a publishing house established by the best-known Russian mason of the age. their views may be regarded as an attempt to overcome the deep religious and intellectual crisis suffered by Russian society in the 18th century. In all their doings. N. Thus we can treat the kabbalistic interests of some Russian masons not as a peculiar “intramasonic” phenomenon caused by their European mentors but as an original trend in the history of Russian thought that emerged due to a number of different factors. Semeka.). In freemasonry. Florovsky.I. with all its doubts and disappointments. and as a Russian phenomenon of the 18 th century.

of the biblical myth of the fall of man. An important element of their search was Kabbalah.-C. The Impact of the Kabbalah in the Seventeenth Century. Swedenborg. some Russian masons were known to be acquainted with them personally. etc. L. Some works of Protestant mystics and pietists of the seventeenth century also served as important sources. ‘Kabbalah in European Culture’. a number of transformed kabbalistic ideas were borrowed from European mystics of the 18th century such as E. ‘Kabbala Denudata Rediscovered’. 120-132. “Improvement of the Universe”) – in Lurianic Kabbalah. A special task in tikkun is entrusted to man who is to make the improvement of the lowest regions of the universe and to liberate the sparks of light imprisoned there by means of his personal illumination and cleaving to the Holy One.. Tikkun ha-olam (Heb. The main sources of knowledge in the field were original kabbalistic texts and those of Christian kabbalists. It is noteworthy that they were concerned not only with the best organization of society and nature as a whole but also with their own farming and agronomy. id. Kabbalah. 140-144.
This kabbalistic school was established by Isaak Luria (Ha-Ari) in Safed in the 1570s. such as free distribution of bread in meagre years. esp. F. The development of Russian theatre. Many of them held high positions in state and military services. also are linked to the names of outstanding masons. the well-known official persecutions of Russian masons in the 1790s were caused by suspicions that they had plotted a take-over. Furthermore. In addition. destroyed by the general cataclasm of the “breaking of vessels” (shevirat hakelim). Moscow Rosicrucians were also deeply involved in political activities. philosophy and fiction. Thus they played an important role in the establishment of Moscow University and a number of scientific and student organizations.KABBALAH AND RUSSIAN FREEMASONS
37
positions in the fields of history. On the influence of Lurianic doctrine on European mysticism see: Coudert. the process of universal restoration and redintegration of the primeval harmony. Very typical of Russian masons was charity work. Behind this social activity was a fundamental concept of the world and the human race. ethics. Protestant mystical concepts of universal salvation and readjustment of the world can be traced back to the doctrine of Tikkun ha-olam in the Lurianic Kabbalah41 . thus they nursed their estates. Oetinger. Masons collected ideas and concepts coherent with this basic view within various philosophic and religious systems. establishment of a number of free homes and public schools throughout Russia. of the pharmacy in Russia etc. de Saint-Martin. reflecting a masonic version.
41
. Burmistrov. rooted in gnosticism. rendering assistance to poor brothers. and their mystical experience correlated well with their economic activity. See Scholem. Moscow masons were seriously occupied with pedagogical activity. In turn.

Novikov in his ‘Notice to readers’ in the masonic magazine Vecherniaia zaria (1782). Notwithstanding all the differences and the diversity of the masonic systems. (Anon. or models. hermetic. with the universalism of Adam Kadmon. He fired the light of mind which was so great at the beginning that there was no secret so deep that he could not penetrate it. It is precisely this idea which underlies their doctrine of the primordial unity of mankind which has been destroyed and is to be repaired. to give light upon it. it teaches him to possess the light of the perennial. the masonic outlook. the concept of the perennial man. of comprehension underlying the masonic Weltanschauung. It is highly syncretic: it includes elements drawn from biblical. of masonic epistemology which determines. we can find their description in almost all masonic manuscripts devoted to kabbalistic matters. is the very heart of the masonic system. he appropriated it. Within the small world. The mason himself is likened here to Adam. Christian and kabbalistic texts. ‘To the readers’. numerous virtues and true knowledge. more strictly. or. He fastened on the firmament countless number of glittering lights. the perennial supernal being in
42 43
On these kabbalistic concepts see Scholem. 96-116.
In fact.e. from the very beginning. Gnostic. Adam Kadmon.). This symbol is very important for masonic myth. apocryphal. that is to one who has possessed.
. cosmogony and hermeneutics and follows the initiate at all three stages of his ascent to the Truth. At the first stage. At the second stage. for enlightening his ways. he writes:
When the wise Creator of the universe made the visible world. The attitude was formulated in brief by N. man. one may discern some basic concepts. and he should strive toward His perfection. it offers him the integrated image of the kabbalistic world of ten Sefirot and four Olamot42 . and reflected back the Divine beams. It is not strange that precisely the rules and methods of kabbalistic hermeneutics were so important for Russian masons. This is especially important at the third stage when Kabbalah becomes necessary for understanding the “spiritual language” of the Scriptures and this by use of Kabbalistic hermeneutics. Kabbalah. I. 2. to a great extent. Adam Kadmon. his Fall and his Return. Vechernyaya Zarya (Evening Glow) 1 (1782). The first Adam has the features of Adam before the Fall. supernal Being. i. But not for long could man use this light. The teaching about two Adams plays a special role here. and became gloomy. Darkness covered his previous enlightenment 43 . Speaking about the aims of his new magazine.38
KONSTANTIN BURMISTROV
& MARIA ENDEL
Masonic tradition and Kabbalah Kabbalah underlies masonic theosophy.

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whose image man and the world were created and whose soul contained souls of all people, and of perennial Jesus-Messiah. The second Adam, or Jesus incarnated, is considered a manifestation, or Hieroglyph, of the first Adam 44 . The writings of Russian masons belong to a Christian (probably heterodox) tradition, but Adam Kadmon is interpreted here in accordance with kabbalistic views. Thus in discussing the problem of the manifest and non-manifest God, an author notes:
In order to make these emanations and images of Divine features and powers, the infinite Primitive Cause, infinite Spirit or infinite Light emanated [from itself] the fundamental First Principle through which come further emanations. It is Adam Kadmon, i.e. archetypal perennial Man (Urmensch). This first-begotten Lord’s [Son] was revealed in ten kinds of emanation, or in ten images, and produced outwardly the same number of sources of lights: they are called Sefirot, Sefirs, primordial figures, figures of things (Urzahlen)45 .

For masonic myth, the concept of the Fall which was identical with the loss of wisdom, perennial Knowledge, and Light by Adam, is of extreme importance. All masonic activity is aimed at restoring this lost wisdom. Like Christian kabbalists of the fifteenth–sixteenth centuries, the Russian masons often considered Kabbalah the perennial knowledge granted to Adam in Eden. For example, in the same masonic text one may read:
The kabbalists say that God declared this secret knowledge to Adam, but Adam, because of his fall, tore away from the Kingdom of God and the Lord’s Anointed, and because of this he lost this wisdom, realized the importance of his loss, again returned to the source of felicity, and passed this truth on to his posterity. There is nothing here that we could not accept. But in Kabbalah (excluding many additions filled with lies), this is expressed in the language of images. Kingdom (Königreich = Malchut) here is the most inferior Sefirot [i.e. Sefirah] in which is concentrated the light of all the Sefirot emanated from the infinite Source of Light through Archetypal Man (Urmensch = Adam Kadmon = Son of God). By its Almighty Power, It [i.e. Light] leads man and all the creatures out to their Beatitude. Inasmuch as Adam had a desire to be his own lord for himself, or to be equal to God, he tore away this Sefirot [i.e. Sefirah], i.e. the Kingdom of God, and together with it tore away the Leaf, or the Twig from the Tree of Sefirot (tore away Nature from the influence of the Heavenly Light), and after that he was covered with shame by the sensation of the death that he attracted to himself by his tearing away from the Tree of Life and from the Light which is the Heavenly Man46 .

It is suggested that one may attain great wisdom due to the process of selfknowledge; this is considered to be the cognition of both Nature and the Crea44 45 46

tor, because of the isomorphism of the macrocosm (“the universe”) and microcosm (“the small world”, “man”). As it is said in a masonic song, ‘While trying Nature in myself, / the Creation and the Creator shall I comprehend; / striving to penetrate into myself, / I can know Him by my soul’47 . Florovsky notes reasonably that ‘dogmatically freemasonry was, in essence, a revival of Neoplatonic and Gnostic doctrines, renewed since the Renaissance. The most important thing was the idea of the Fall, “a spark of light” captured by the darkness. Not so much a strong feeling of sin as a sensation of impurity was typical of the masons. And it is resolved not so much by penance as by abstinence’48 . It is interesting that self-knowledge, at least in its first stage, presupposes that the man involved is frightened by his sins and chooses the way of improvement. Masonic mystical knowledge, mystical illumination, up to the union with the Godhead, is possible only for ‘bearers of spirit’ who, by way of moral self-correction, ‘developed in themselves abilities that, after their full revelation, raise him up to the lower regions of the realm of angels’49 . Preaching about personal self-perfection and mysticism are tightly connected here with each other, ‘for the truth is a mystery that may be revealed not by mental efforts but by moral great deeds of the will […] one can know everything only by overcoming the sinfulness of human nature’50 and with the attainment of the knowledge and light that were lost by the first man, Adam. As mentioned above, Adam is an archetype for the mason, who is sinful, on the one hand, but, on the other hand, has the opportunity to return to the previous sinless and perfect condition. This condition can be attained after numerous trials whose first preparatory stage is moral self-correction.
Also we are not deprived of this light, it is present within us, but it is obscured and suppressed by our wicked deeds. It shines also in Nature but as it does not shine within ourselves we could not see it outside. And so the true sages of the ancient and modern times declare self-knowledge the first exercise of the man […] Self-knowledge ought to begin with perception and improvement of our moral acts, and after that we can learn the intrinsic mysteries of human nature 51 .

In fact, at the next stage, ‘when our spirit is prepared in such a way, and the light within us is unveiled, then we can put our attention to the external things or the nature, and to recognize the great perfection, skills, and the greatness of

its Architect in its marvelous construction. Finally, who desires to see the great wisdom in its full brightness, let him start to read Holy Writ ardently and zealously; he will find there all the mysteries of the Divine and Natural explained by the spiritual language’ 52 . Therefore the masonic theory of knowledge requires the initiate to pass through three stages. In the first stage, he is occupied with moral self-correction and knowing the mysteries intrinsic to man. In the second stage, he must come to know Nature. In the third stage, the mysteries of Nature and God are understood at a higher level using the “spiritual language” of the Scriptures 53 . This three-stage path is considered the return to that time when ‘the book of nature was opened for human understanding, and man could comprehend all its mysteries by his mind’54 . This return is possible, however, due to mastering the knowledge Adam possessed in Paradise. The masons believe that after his fall he
kept everything in his memory […] and through his memory, he taught his descendants the sciences that he had known in Eden about nature and its Ruler. Afterwards, some of them kept these teachings of wisdom and transmitted them by word of mouth to the next generation […] One may claim with great confidence that the teachings of our forefathers were transmitted to posterity with great accuracy […] However because of the multiplication of the human race over the surface of the Earth, and their dissemination throughout the world, the precepts about knowledge and truth taken from the First Man were transformed into fallacies […] that is why they have been kept in all their previous power and perfection in but a few people 55 .

Thus, an ancient and authentic tradition was necessary to save this knowledge. When Russian masons travelled throughout Europe, studying the works of Western mystics, alchemists and Christian kabbalists, masonic and Rosicrucian documents, they sought just this tradition. In this way, they had the greatest respect for Kabbalah.

Ibid., 3-4. Similar reasoning can be find in several MSs for example in Besedi iz Teoreticheskogo Gradusa Solomonskih vedeniy (Conversations from the Theoretic Degree of Solomon Cognizances, DMS RSL, F. 14, N 250, f. 93-93r) we read: ‘You are sufficiently learned that God teaches us in three ways: (1) He points us at the Nature as the manifested Wisdom Divine; (2) He gives to us the rule for Improvement of our Manners; (3) through all this, He guides us to True Innermost Theology, or to living cognition of the Divine Word. And this threefold teaching we must transform thoroughly in our activity, in order that it came, day by day, in our life, and our inner man was fed on this, grew and strengthened in God’. 54 From (Anon.), ‘The Condition of Man Before the Fall’, 235. 55 Ibid., 238.
52 53

42 The true Kabbalah

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& MARIA ENDEL

Russian masons considered the “true Kabbalah” 56 an essential part of the primordial Wisdom, which is required for the fallen man to return to “Eden”. ‘When people began to forfeit these gifts [those of primordial Wisdom], they were forced to transmit their knowledge about the nature and God Himself to their offspring by means of “inscriptions” or hieroglyphs’ 57 . And it is just the Kabbalah which contains those hieroglyphs, that ‘represent attributes of things in the world’58 . Moreover, up to the Incarnation of Jesus Christ, Kabbalah was the only source of the primeval Light and primordial Wisdom Adam had taken out of Paradise. Similar views are expressed in the works of Ivan Elagin, one of the most outstanding Russian masons of the 18 th century:
Kabbalah is a symbolic or formative doctrine of Divine mysteries received and accepted from God, which is essential and useful for the holy God-seeing. Therefore, this teaching is considered the true knowledge of allegories, symbols, and hieroglyphs of the Divine words […] [Solomon] bade to extract sense and understanding from the law of Holy Scripture on grounds of kabbalistic doctrine. Thus the main essence of Kabbalah is to leave the external and literal sense of Holy Scripture and word of God, and to penetrate the interior thoughts of the Holy Ghost59 .

In the opinion of J. Schwarz, the leader of Moscow Rosicrucians in the early 1780s, masonry was a secret science whose first adepts were Jewish sectarians. The principle underlying the doctrine of Rosicrucians is the concept of a “spark of light” transferred from one wise man to another through the chain of Tradition. ‘Thus this mystery [i.e. the primordial doctrine, received by Rosicrucians] passed to the religious Jewish sects of Essenes and Therapeutes which existed in the days of Christ and were renowned for their virtuousness […] Just from these Essenes was derived a glorious Order of Rosicrucians who received the “spark of light”, together with the virtue of

56 A conditional term denoting a special masonic version of Jewish Kabbalah based on its interpretation by Christian kabbalists of the fifteenth–seventeenth centuries. As a rule, the “true Kabbalah” was identified with the “theoretic” Kabbalah (Kabbalah iyyunit), which was contrasted with the “practical” Kabbalah (Kabbalah ma’asit, or “Jewish magic”). See DMS RSL, F 14, N 1116, f. 2, 5r; N 992, f. 1-2r; Onomatologia curiosa artificiosa et magica, or the Dictionary of Natural Magic, Vol. 1, 376-377. See also Burmistrov and Endel, ‘Kabbalah in Russian Masonry’, 33-36. 57 (Anon.), ‘The Condition of Man Before the Fall’, 238. 58 Therefore the words “hieroglyphic” and “kabbalistic” are sometimes considered synonyms. 59 RSAAA, F. 8, N 216, Pt. 6, f. 54-54r.

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their ancestors’ 60 . In such a way, according to Russian masons, was the fundamental masonic tradition established 61 . Tikkun ha-olam: the aims of masonic activity and Kabbalah Masonic activity was not reduced however to self-knowledge, knowledge of Nature, and God. Its underlying principle was a kabbalistic and alchemical impulse for the improvement and salvation of the world fallen with Adam. The process of universal improvement (tikkun) is described in some masonic texts. The clearest exposition is contained in the treatise “An Oration of the Man of Eziless” 62 . The necessity of tikkun is caused by a disruption in the process of creation that resulted in serious structural alterations in the world. Like medieval kabbalists, masonic authors, however, were sure that this disruption was an inevitable stage on the way of transformation, or “softening” of the Divine attribute of Judgment (Sefirah Din), which is intrinsic to the very nature of God. Indeed, ‘as God is omniscient, He could not help knowing what happened with His creation; and as He is omnipotent, He could have built in such a way that no corruption would happen afterwards’63 . However, the art of Creation is similar to the work of a goldsmith, in whose arms ‘gold […] is transformed in different ways, needless parts are detached and gathered again, they are purified and become better then they have been before’64 . The amendment and improvement of the creation, i.e. the transformation of the force of Judgment into the force of Charity, is likened also to the alchemical transmutation of Copper (=Judgment, Sefirah Din) to Silver (Charity, Sefirah Hesed)65 . Anyway, it is man who must purify and amend the spheres of the Universe accessible to him; special groups of elected initiates, i.e. masons, played a pivotal role in the process.
Semeka, ‘Russian Rosicrucians and the works by Catherine II against Masonry’, 350. See ibid., 358. It is noteworthy that one of the masonic pseudoepigrapha, Letter of the Rabbi of Lisbon to the Rabbi of Brest (1817; originally written in Polish), states that the Craft (or “Hafshim Goderim” Sociery) has been established by the biblical characters; masonry itself is considered there a secret Jewish order whose members, inter alia, acknowledge Christianity. See DMS RSL, F. 147, N 287, f. 29-33r.; List Rabina Lizbonskiego do Rabina Brzeskiego z dyalektu rabinsko-talmudycznego przet umaczony. P. 1-8. 62 DMS RSL, F 14, N 1655. P. 487–523. This text is a paraphrase of a part of “Ma’amar ’Adam de-’Azilut ”, an anonymous kabbalistic work of the seventeenth century, where ‘the basic tenets of Lurianic Kabbalah are systematically and originally presented’ (Scholem, Kabbalah, 143). Eziless is a distorted spelling of Azilut, the highest of the four worlds-olamot of kabbalistic cosmology. See Scholem, Kabbalah, 137. 63 DMS RSL, F 14, N 1655. P. 506. 64 Ibid., 510. 65 Ibid., 511.
60 61

Vernadsky. notarikon. Kabbalistic hermeneutics Biblical hermeneutics and kabbalistic methods of interpretation played an essential role in the masonic system. and every mason ought to participate actively in this process. Letters of N. Rzhevski (1737-1804)67 .V. Kabbalah] not only unveils spiritual things but we may say that it is spiritual by itself. 811. its author writes about ‘the importance and necessity of Hebrew’ for masonic art68 . 68 Barskov (ed. 283. Masons believed that by unveiling the hidden meaning of the Scriptures they would be able to comprehend the depth of the universe.
. and afterwards he got Isaac from Sarah. Trubetskoi (1744-1821)66 . for the words as Moses has written them are not the same now as they were at his time […] The direct way to the achievement of truth is that of Abraham who. at the beginning. “spiritual matters”) until you have comprehended the science of nature (i. and at the same time to carry out alchemical experiments aimed at the “improvement” and “salvation” of gross metals and their transmutation into gold. See Serkov. Then he argues that you should not study kabbalistic interpretations of the Scriptures (i. Just this impulse induced the masons to work for charitable causes.e. prince Nikolay N. Aleksey A.). Novikov. M. some of them studied Hebrew and tried to read and interpret the Hebrew Bible while turning to kabbalistic symbols and methods (gematria. See Serkov. 235. Correspondence of the Russian Masons of the 18th century.).I. Russian Masonry. Russian Masonry in the Reign of Catherine the Great. or creation of a new word from each letter.I. in the field of public education and amendment of manners. writer and translator.
I guess that the mysterious sense of Mosaic writings is conceivable not by calculation. A.44
KONSTANTIN BURMISTROV
& MARIA ENDEL
For the mason. the importance of Kabbalah for masonic work. Rzhevski – a member of the Rosicrucian Order. Index. Russian Masonry.e. temurah). In the beginning. A. For this science [i. 67 A. explains to a mason of a higher initiation. We cite below an excerpt taken from a private letter where an active Rosicrucian. but how can a mortal know about the spiritual matters until he has known about the material ones […] Those who practise this science
66 He was one of the most active and devoted Rosicrucians. to establish an intercourse with the spiritual world and to discover the ways for emendation of the fallen world including human society and human nature. With this end in view. This text is especially significant for our discourse for it reflects the real interests and everyday problems of Russian masons.e. 696. personal salvation is possible only in the course of overall harmonization and salvation of nature and man. had known a slave and engendered with her Ishmael. (eds. a member of the Friendly Learned Society and masonic “Typographic Company”. of universal tikkun. and Reizin. “material matters”). Serkov.

venerable Brother. and that this mysterious meaning is contained not in letters but in the words themselves. in Hebrew) indicates the clearest essence. For the masons. in the first chapter of Genesis. The Life of Louis Claude de Saint-Martin. However if somebody had previously an experience in studying the material matters in nature and has some knowledge of Hebrew. will understand easily that the material matters should be conceived before the spiritual ones… I hope however for your modesty. the Unknown Philosopher. the world. Kabbalah provided the keys for interpreting the Scriptures and discovering the deepest and secret layers of the biblical text.
Ibid. and what occurs in lower things that also occurs in higher ones’. Kabbalah contains the true knowledge about God. therefore it was translated as “and the earth”. Un Thaumaturge au XVIIIe siècle. We have divided these texts into three main groups71 . we managed to discover in Moscow State archives a significant number of masonic MSs which indicate a deep interest in and a good acquaintance of Russian Brothers with Jewish Mysticism. and will not discuss its content with anybody… 69 . established by Martines de Pasqually and his pupil L. ‘Kabbalah in Russian Masonry’. 236-237. to recognize the true meaning of Moses’ [words…] And one who knows the true sense of the [word] Elohim. 23-33. 71 We discuss this issue in detail in Burmistrov and Endel. and for communication with this world. as a basis for their cosmogonic system. but also it is the conjunction “and”. then he is able easily. Secondly. moreover. See Van Rijnberk.C. La franc-maçonnerie occultiste au XVIIIe siècle & l’ordre des Elus Coens. it is still possible to translate as “essence of the earth”. Moses himself could not attain spiritual matters when he was completely unfamiliar with the material ones. Therefore. that after reading you will tear this letter into pieces. Waite. Le Forestier. This letter is dated from the mid-1780s. and man and not only facilitates the process of universal amendment but also determines its paths and ways. This kabbalistic concept was adopted and expressed distinctly in the doctrine of the mystical school.KABBALAH AND RUSSIAN FREEMASONS
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expect correctly that ‘all the lower things represent the higher ones. For example. Kabbalistic texts in the literature of Russian masons As we have also mentioned above. It is possible to discern. without calculation. firstly. the acting person in the first chapter of Genesis. explaining the hierarchical construction of the heavenly world.
Referring to the masonic tradition as a whole. and first and foremost – the concept of Tikkun ha-olam70 ..
69 70
. Their writings and ideas enjoyed great popularity among Russian Brothers. we can conclude that Russian masons used Kabbalah. the word “et” (“eth”. This is why I conclude that the meaning of [what Moses has said] is going from mouth to mouth up to our times. de Saint-Martin. behind the masonic soteriology some adapted kabbalistic concepts.

It should be stressed that masonic translations are hardly similar to translations in the strict meaning of the word. 23-30. Kabbalah. 77 See DMS RSL.
. N 1655. a Polish kabbalist of the 16th century. 3–6 centuries C. but they contain so many interpolations that it is reasonable to conclude their translator was a true Christian kabbalist78 .). 78 For further details see Burmistrov and Endel. 3-34. N 676. 56. P. ‘Historical Introduction’. Therefore. DMS RSL. 76 On him and his treatise see Idel. Kabbalah. We also found a very interesting translation of the famous treatise Shaare Orah (The Gates of Light) by Joseph Gikatilla (the 13th century)76 . ‘Sefer Yezirah in Jewish and Christian Traditions’. ‘Iter GnosticoRussicum’. 14.E. I. a short cosmogonic treatise about the creation of the universe and man by means of Hebrew letters and numbers 72 . loose translations and expositions. see also Gilly. with additions made by the translator or interpolations from other texts. 147. 13 th century)74 which appears to have been the most important and well known kabbalistic text for Russian masons75 . N. Blickstein. Amsterdam 1642) – State Archive of Russian Federation. in: Sha‘are Orah. See also about the Russian translations of “Sefer Yezirah” made from the Latin edition (S. Also in several writings one can meet long quotations from Sefer ha-Zohar (The Book of Splendour. 118. for example. ‘Das Buch Jezirah in der christlichen Tradition’. 14. F. Scholem. Rittangelus. ‘Original Kabbalistic Concepts in the Masonic Codex “On the Sefirot” (Late 18th century)’. an anonymous text belonging to Lurianic Kabbalah 77 .
72 This text is very popular in the Jewish tradition. ‘On a kabbalistic manuscript in Russian Masonic literature’. id. See also Schmidt-Biggermann. F. 46–52 (this translation is published in: Burmistrov and Endel. ‘Kabbalah in Russian Masonry’. ‘Sefer Yezirah in Jewish and Christian Traditions’. In the same MS codex there is an abridged version of Ma‘amar ’Adam de-’Azilut. 14. Kabbalah. At least two Russian translations of this text are kept now in MSs collections73 .. Russian masons of the late 18 th century were familiar with one of the basic texts of Jewish mysticism. 1137. See re-edition of the Latin translation made by G. it is very difficult to identify the different layers in these texts and comprehend all the transformations made from the original texts. with numerous quotations from the classic commentary to this text written by Mattityahu Delacrut. The Wisdom of the Zohar. Postel (1552): Sefer Jezirah (in the Introduction. 409-411. 73 DMS RSL. many Jewish mystics and philosophers have commented it. N 208. 213-243. See also about the interpretations of the book in Christian Kabbalah: Secret. 75 See. 74 On Sefer ha-Zohar see Scholem. Gates of Light. Le Zôhar chez les Kabbalistes Chrétiens de la Renaissance. the role of this text in the Christian Kabbalah is elucidated). Between Philosophy and Mysticism. N 676. F. These texts seem to be a direct translation from Hebrew. Sefer Yezirah (The Book of Creation. Section X. Tishby.46
KONSTANTIN BURMISTROV
& MARIA ENDEL
The first group comprises translations of real kabbalistic texts or their fragments. F. Burmistrov and Endel. P. They are rather mixtures of translations and commentaries. See Scholem. 26-29. This work was also very important for the Christian kabbalists who translated it to the Latin and other European languages. F. Endel. 63-71).

Caspar Schott – DMS RSL. 14. N 1613. This means that the Russian masons were not obliged to share the concepts contained in these texts. 44-55) one of the most representative texts of the kind is published (with English translation). and the socalled “astrological Kabbalah”. 147. As we mentioned above.
79 See DMS RSL. A Short Version of the Kabbalistic Teaching by Jacob Brucker. F.5. 14. Leipzig 1774). these texts point to their intended effort to organize an existing tradition of deep contact and exchange with kabbalistic texts and concepts.
.). P. In our opinion. Ibid. they used many quotations taken both from these works and from the kabbalistic texts. N 705. unpublished A. Frankfurt.. the most interesting is the third group that contains original writings of Russian masons devoted to kabbalistic matters80 . The authors of these writings based their knowledge of Kabbalah on the works of Pico della Mirandola. first of all. N 1644. 33-43. F. In these texts. Only these texts allow us to reconstruct masonic views related to Kabbalah.KABBALAH AND RUSSIAN FREEMASONS
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Thus. the “kabbalistic” texts belong not to the “intramasonic” writings but rather to the “circle of masonic reading”. texts like these demonstrate their knowledge of Hebrew and quite possibly their acquaintance with Kabbalists who possessed an oral tradition. In this connection such works as True and Right Kabbalah by Wilhelm Kriegesmann. Arsenyev’s masonic collection: DMS RSL. N 1646 (205 ff. kabbalistic concepts are described in detail: for example. 1533): see DMS RSL. II. F. The second group comprises translations into Russian of the works of European Christian kabbalists and researchers of Kabbalah. the kabbalistic exegetical methods (gematria. N 193 (original text: Kriegesmann. the number of the texts was relatively small – several dozens versus several thousands of extant masonic manuscripts 81 . Pietro di Galatino. Athanasius Kircher and other Christian kabbalists of the 15th-17th centuries.N. Vol. N 987. ‘Kabbalah in Russian Masonry’. DMS RSL. e. N 204. Kabbalah”). 19-26 (extraction from Brucker. and The Jewish Kabbalah by Caspar Schott should be mentioned79 . Pt. Leipzig.g. 14. F. 14. 80 The principal concepts presented in these texts are reviewed in Burmistrov and Endel. F. Die wahre und richtige Cabalah. F. from Sefer ha-Zohar. It should be noted that in almost every manuscript. the famous book De Occulta Philosophia by Heinrich Cornelius Agrippa of Nettesheim (the first complete edition – Cologne. Theosophy. Historia critica philosophiae. brief and more old version – F. 1742). 14 (comprising about 2. Pypin’s “Masonic Bibliography” in the State Archive of Russian Federation. In our opinion. Besides. N 117-119 (Section X: “Mystics. (P. Johannes Reuchlin. notarikon. 14. data about the author and source are lacking. It is represented by translations made mostly from German and Latin. Besides. the Names of God. they could also be influenced by “primary sources” of the Christian Kabbalah. the teachings on the Sefirot. 81 See e. 147. J. or in the Catalogue of V. It seems very important to find out who were the putative authors or translators of these texts. or F. the mystical meaning of Hebrew letters.000 manuscripts).g. temurah). despite our scarce knowledge of the intellectual world of the Russian masons. 1137. I.. N 1625-27. F.

44-52. Working the Rough Stone. other MS materials devoted. famous statesman. 85 RSAAA. F.I. Russian Masonry. to understand] this mysterious and numinous teaching’85 . as he writes in the same Introduction. f. The head of the Palace chancellery. he played an important role in political life82 . Semeka. senator. Biographical data see also in Serkov. Russian Historiosophy of the Eighteenth Century. an uncompleted work on Russian history. it was his high position in masonry that impelled him continuously ‘to strive hard to solve [i. It is known that Catherine herself sometimes jokingly signed documents as “Chancellor of Mr. By his own words.
. in 1770 he had been elected Grand Master of the Grand Provincial Lodge of Russia under the auspices of the Berlin Grand Lodge. 1772 he received from the Great Master of the United Great Lodge of England the certificate of the first Provincial Grand Master of the Empire of Russia in Russian history. 94–98. 6. Pekarski.). Thus he became the chief of the first masonic union in Russia. he wrote a voluminous composition A Treatise on Russia (Opit povestvovaniya o Rossii). The new stage in his activity began in the late 1780s. Letters of N. In the closing stages of his life. Masonry in Russia. N 216. 82-93 . Elagin described in detail his spiritual biography. where his masonic views were presented 84 . After a short period of enthusiasm for Voltaire and Helvetius he returned to masonic activity with much more serious intentions. and writer. 96-137. 44-70. He looked for the teachers who could initiate him into the mysteries of Divine knowledge. 3. Pypin.48
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Ivan Elagin and Kabbalah One of the most outstanding masons in the age of Catherine the Great was Ivan Elagin. Russian Masonry in the Reign of Catherine the Great. 323. Serkov and Reizin (eds. On February 26. in particular. See Artemieva. 50-55. when he established a renewed masonic association and became its Grand Master. 104-105. to some religious and philosophic problems are contained in the Manuscript Department of the Russian National Library (St. Smith. Petersburg). Elagin’s System included not less than 14 lodges and maintained contacts with many European lodges83 . Russian Masonry in the Reign of Catherine the Great. 8. Joined to the Craft in 1750s. 139149. For. Therefore I began with all my thoroughness to spend vast sums of
82 On Elagin and his masonic system see Vernadsky. Pt. he was ready to learn and to teach this knowledge all his life. “Royal York”. He joined masonry in his youth but did not find anything attractive there and soon left the lodge. ‘my sincerity did not allow me to lead my Brothers in the way unknown to myself. In the middle of the 1770s. 84 The first volume of the treatise was published in Moscow in 1803. Supplements to the history of Masonry in Russia in the Eighteenth Century. 289. Novikov. 83 For further details see Vernadsky.e. ‘Russian Masonry in the Eighteenth Century’. In the Introduction to one of his unpublished writings. Elagin”.

one can find various MSs related to von Reuchel. ‘Reuchel was sent in Russia by the National Lodge of Berlin (working after Zinnendorf ’s System) “to break the absolutism of Englishmen”. this ‘respectable brother. See Pertsev. Petersburg in 1771. Supplements to the history of Masonry in Russia in the Eighteenth Century.KABBALAH AND RUSSIAN FREEMASONS
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money trying to collect everything related to masonry’86 . von Reuchel facilitated Elagin’s interest in “secret knowledge”.
86 87
. Thus at the end of 1770s Elagin was disappointed in the English system of masonry which was taught in Russian lodges when he had been their Head. von Reuchel became Elagin’s mentor on his spiritual path. By the way in 1776 this system and “English lodges” headed by Elagin joined together’. 690. including Kabbalah. from 1777 up to 1786) he induced Elagin ‘to read the books which he had earlier disdained as stupid’91 .). Russian Masonry in the Reign of Catherine the Great. He headed in Russia the so-called “Reuchel’s” masonic system. but this interest developed to the full extent due to his acquaintance with another mentor. The result of these expenses was. 90 An anonymous German diary is contained among Elagin’s MSs. and that ‘for real [i. 88 Ellenberg-Zinnendorf. It was Reuchel who provided Elagin with various mystical MSs and explained their secret and symbolic meaning. Baron von Reuchel was the Head of lodges that worked according to the Swedish-Berlin system of Johann Wilhelm Ellenberger (von Zinnendorf) (1731-1782). 184. Novikov. however. 65-70. 80.
Ibid. An active mason. he spread the rite of Swedish masonry in Germany and established the Grand Lodge of Germany. 186. 339. known as the “System of Relaxed Observation” (“Laxe Observanz”) 88 . In Elagin’s archive. a physician. an understanding that it is impossible to buy truth for money. and therefore rather complicated relations were established between them. 86-91. initiated in the true masonry’. established in St. Elagin immersed himself in reading the Old and New Testaments and Fathers of the Church. was in fact an opponent to Elagin’s masonry. – Vernadsky. Russian Masonry in the Reign of Catherine the Great. 89 Vernadsky.e. common] gold’ you can receive but ‘the search for imaginary gold’. the most important role was played by his acquaintance with Baron Johannes George von Reuchel (1729-1791)87 . 91 Vernadsky. Serkov and Reizin (eds. Letters of N. There is some evidence that Reuchel also was interested in Kabbalah and Talmud90 . ‘German Freemasonry in the Eighteenth century’.I. since 1765 was appointed the head of the Prussian Medical Department. In the words of Elagin. On this new path. In our opinion. See Pekarski. In despair. Then he began to feel the necessity of studying Greek and Hebrew. see also Serkov. Russian Masonry. His author mixed with Reuchel and disapproved of ‘[Reuchlin’s] insane fabrications on Kabbalah and Talmud’. explained to him ‘an ancient mysterious knowledge called the Sacred Wisdom’89 . He gave him many masonic texts and for many years (at least. Russian Masonry in the Reign of Catherine the Great. Von Reuchel’s masonic union. At the same time.

we may suggest that he was a converted Jew. read it by the clear inner eye ‘of sages whose eye is in their head’ as overwise Solomon
RSAAA.). Petersburg where he got a certificate for medical practice 94 . See also Pypin. Materials for a Russian Bibliography. read its gradual consequences. In Pypin’s opinion. in the art of healing. this book was ‘a typical example of Rosicrucian nonsense. 142. 94 In 1778 he examined and described a sulpho-chalybeate fount which had been found by him in Schklov (Mogilev District).
92 93
. 925.92 Considering the name of this man. Masonry in Russia. a converted Polish [sic] Jew who lived in Petersburg’. Elagin reported that Eli was the author of a masonic book Fraternal Admonitions to Some Brethern Free Masons written by Br. It was translated into Russian by F. Vol. f. with its false depth and theological and alchemical inventions’96 . 96 See Pypin. 1781. 310. See (Barskov. See Vernadsky. 214. Petersburg?). Eli taught him ‘everything what is necessary and needful for comprehension of mystical sense and outlandish sayings which are so plenty in the writings of Moses and other prophets’. 375. but also involved him in serious study of Kabbalah. Russian Masonry. which contains an interesting handwritten inscription: ‘The editor of the German original was … D[octor] Eli. Russian Masonry in the Reign of Catherine the Great. See Barskov. It is written in symbolic and rather abstruse language and contains some elements that may definitely relate to Jewish mysticism. 132. and his knowledge of Hebrew and Kabbalah. F. and sent a sample of water to the Medical Board. 95 This treatise was written originally in German: Brüderliche Vermahnungen an einige Brüder Freymaurer von dem Bruder Seddag. He also was able to cure his pupil from a fatal illness. Pisani bratom Seddagom)95 . 2. It should be noted that in the 1780s in Schklov a Russian masonic lodge was active. In 1778 (or 1776)93 Eli arrived in St. About that time he met Elagin and became his mentor. Pt. and in Hebrew and Kabbalah’. Masonry in Russia. 3. ‘was an expert in our science. It was very popular among Moscow Rosicrucians. The author also teaches his Brothers how to study the Scriptures in a specific “kabbalistic” way:
Read. A copy of the German edition is known.B. Obolduyev and published in Moscow in 1784. 8r. J. ‘Ely S. The gentleman spoken of is a certain Stanislaus Pines Eli (or Ely) who. Correspondence of the Russian Masons of the 18th century. in the words of Elagin.50 Stanislaus Eli
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In the late 1770s Elagin became acquainted with a person who not only gave him invaluable help in learning Hebrew. with its numerical interpretation. See Guberti. 132.L. one of the most important Jewish centres in those days. my brother. Serkov. For many years. read the Holy Creation. Thus one finds there a lengthy discourse on the great mystical power of the Tetragrammaton. He was a native of Kolin (Bohemia) who received medical education at Berlin and Frankfurt-amOder. N 216. 8. Seddag (Bratskiye uveshchaniya k nekotorim brat’yam svbdn kmnshchkm.’. Philadelphia (St.

F. 215 notes. In the course of work the project was. N 8. If you wish to read the history of the Creation then read the first verse: ‘Bereschith bara Elohim eth haschamajim weeth haaretz’. See also P. and from the very beginning.KABBALAH AND RUSSIAN FREEMASONS
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has said […] read truly.
97 98
. Eli who appears to be one of the most important figures relevant for our topic. – RSAAA. changed significantly.
Novikov mentions Eli among the members of Elagin’s lodges 98 . It is noteworthy that in the project (in the 2nd book) there were a chapter 3 titled About Talmud and Targum. ‘New Documents on the Novikov Case’.). Thus we must judge about his design taken in its entirety by an extant project. and read it for several years. 96-97. f. collected and presented in five parts by I. Pekarski. 3. 1796). in 1788. dukhovnih i misticheskih.L. See (Barskov. J. N 8. On Sefirot. provintsial’noy lozhi masterom. ili nauka svobodnih kamen’shchikov i raznih tvortsov svetskih. 134. and mystic. ‘Ely S.E. 100 Ucheniye drevnego lyubomudriya i bogomudriya.. Pt. A rough copy (an autograph) written by Elagin. 26–29. he wrote also the book An exposition of the reliable and durable income of sheep farms (St. and only after that read further […] When you have read this and that profoundly. Working the Rough Stone. 99 The title of his dissertation is De opobalsamo et oleo-balamno (1770). 2. Velikim ross. In 1786 Eli was appointed (probably with a help of Elagin) to the position of head of the Economic Chancellery at the Medical Board. 3. The 1 st book contains HistoriSeddag. 101 As Douglas Smith. sobrannaya i v pyati chastyah predlozhennaya I. 102 RSAAA. 216. on the Names of God. Petersburg.E. he had finished only a part of what he planned 101 . Kabbalistic studies of Elagin We can estimate the results of Elagin’s kabbalistic studies by the content of his manuscript collection. Fraternal Admonitions to Some Brethern Free Masons. 146. profane. Vernadsky. Popov. Russian Masonry in the Reign of Catherine the Great. He began to write the book in 1786 but two years later. and chapter 10 About the 32 grades and the 50 gates for the great wisdom 102 . and especially by two of his own works. however. chapter 5 About kabbalistic Art. 214-215. then read there where nothing is written yet97 . F. or knowledge of Free Masons and diverse makers. Pt. this work was meant ‘to be read only to members of the secret governing body of his Second Elagin Union’.. 186. ecclesiastic. This is almost all the information available about Dr. 216. he was also a member of the Free Economic Society99 .’. Supplements to the history of Masonry in Russia in the Eighteenth Century. He planned to write a large composition devoted to the history of masonry and mystical doctrines from ancient times up to the end of the 18 th century: Doctrine of ancient philosophy and divine knowledge. the Grand Master of the Russian provincial lodge100 .

Adam Kadmon. 216. as well as the hermeneutic techniques of gematria. we get a chance to better under103 The Introduction to the work has been published twice. or “effective images” of the Perennial Jesus. emanation of the Sefirot. 41-70r. twelve pages all devoted to the interpretation of Hebrew words. 6. The 3rd book contains an explanation of two other degrees of masonry. See Elagin. Noah. and consider the influence Jewish thought had on the Weltanschauung of people similar to Elagin. and only some sketches devoted to “the confirmation of the Existence of God and Incarnation” remain of the 5 th book103 . elements and Divine names.52
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cal review of Masonry since Adam. Thus Elagin treats Jesus Christ as the perennial man. instead of Talmud. The 4th book that was devoted to the 5 th–7th degrees is missing. – RSAAA. sluzhashcheye klyuchom k razobraniya Knigi istini i zabluzhdeniy. The kabbalistic and non-Christian interpretation of the New Testament in Elagin’s text appears to be especially strange. The text represents an extensive kabbalistic commentary to the main points of the masonic doctrine: God and Creation. and temurah – Elagin developed a kabbalistic version of the masonic cosmogony. Adam Kadmon. four worlds-Olamot. he devoted most of his life to the study of a tradition that seemingly was very distant from the Russian life of that time. Novikov. The second of Elagin’s compositions. In the 2nd book. However. named Explanations of the mysterious meaning [of the text] about Creation of the Universe in Holy Scripture. 223-235. and Abraham up to the Knight Orders of the Middle Ages and “systems” of recent times. Thus the composition does not correspond to its earlier plan. when we try to understand the reasons for this strange interest. Elagin is an outstanding phenomenon that shows to us how strong was the interest in Kabbalah among educated Russian people in the late 18th century. notarikon. F. there are. f. whilst he looks upon the historical Jesus from Nazareth as a mason and one of the “hieroglyphs”. in particular. Freemasonry and Russian Culture. This composition is especially interesting for another reason: one can see here a discerning and decoding of the kabbalistic subtext in the book Des Erreurs et de la Vérité (Lyon 1775) by Louis-Claude de Saint-Martin which is absolutely unclear for uninitiated readers. there is a description of the first two degrees of masonry. ‘Doctrine of ancient philosophy and divine knowledge’. etc. Though he was a prominent statesman and Orthodox Christian. Pt. On the basis of Holy Scripture – using the kabbalistic concepts Ein-Sof. which is a key for understanding of the Book of Truth and Errors is mostly devoted to his kabbalistic studies (unfortunately only some parts of this composition are available) 104 .
. and speculations on Kabbalah and Talmud are presented there only fragmentarily. N 8. 104 Obyasneniya tainstvennogo smisla v Bozhestvennom Pisanii o sotvorenii Selenniya. In the available MS.

etc. Novikov and J. The great bulk of the texts were composed in the late 18th . Ruf S. and only after the communist revolution did it completely cease. 401-410. Semion Gamaleya (1743-1822). The tradition of perception. N 221. When masonry was prohibited in Russia in 1822. F 13-14 – V. Tukalevsky. masonic activity continued. They translated a truly great number of writings of European mystics. and Christian kabbalists: all in all. and transmission of kabbalistic texts established by these people existed for almost a century and a half.
105 On this Order see also Vernadsky. Kiesewetter. F. A. but without the Lodges. These people were members of the Order of Gold and Rosy Cross and had higher masonic degrees known as the Theoretical Degree of the Solomon Sciences and Rosicrucian degrees. Nezelenov. N 227. 213-218. 106 The history of this collection can be traced to one of the spiritual successors of Novikov and Gamaleya – V.early 19th centuries in the circle of Moscow “theorists” (or “theoretical masons”). 102-120. Levshin (1746-1826). from the 1770s through the 1920s. and new translations and original works were added to this Library. for example DMS RSL. 198-232. in the early 19th century. and. was exiled. Ryu. it was finished in 1922 (100 years after the formal prohibition of masonry in Russia). when the last representative of the Arsenievs masonic dynasty. ‘Moscow Rosicrucians of the Eighteenth century’. ‘Moscow Masons of the 1780s’. 96-124. they created many original mystical texts. hundreds of volumes.KABBALAH AND RUSSIAN FREEMASONS
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stand their social activity and the peculiarities of their political. The Moscow Order of Rosicrucians As mentioned above. Nikolay Ivanovitch Novikov. economic. Schwarz’. interpretation. See also Craven. Russian Masonry in the Reign of Catherine the Great. 14. alchemists. 107-109. I. ‘Moscow Freemasons and the Rosicrucian Order’. See Serkov. Kabbalah also was very significant for the members of the Order of the Golden and Rosy Cross 105 . prior of the Church of Christ Redeemer in Moscow. See also numerous Russian translations of the principal Rosicrucian document “The Theoretic Degree of the Solomon Sciences”. Arseniev’s stock) which included a considerable part of the manuscripts belonging to the Moscow “theorists” 106 . ‘A History of Masonic Collections in Russia’. Ioann Arseniev (1859-1930). 524-531. ‘The First Chamber of Novikov’s Masonic Library’. Most of the texts available now were kept in the collection of a masonic “dynasty” Arsenievs (DMS RSL. Editor. 59-66. natural philosophers. It should be noted that the Arsenievs not only kept the old MSs: during the whole 19th century these texts were continuously studied and commented. In addition. Pozdeev (1746-1820). The most prominent members of the group were Johann Schwarz. Joseph A. ‘N. and religious views. Eshevsky. Nikolay Novikov.S.
. Nikolay Trubetskoi. G. Stepanov (1745-1828) etc.

The next seven degrees were named the higher degrees108 . Aaron. Each degree implied study of certain secret sciences and some practical activity (in the field of magic. Kutuzov (1749/52-97) was the messenger of Moscow Rosicrucians in Berlin. Gamaleya from different languages. I. 109 Vernadsky. Serkov. Lopukhin (17561816) as well as people possessing an extraordinary spiritual authority (though they might have no special social status). theurgy. 246. “Adeptus exemptus”. 110 Kiesewetter. and senator Ivan V. N 549). Nikolay Ivanovitch Novikov. the biggest Moscow publishing houses and printers. The Rosicrucian hierarchy was divided into nine stages. N. “Minor”. ‘Moscow Rosicrucians of the Eighteenth century’. 219. Russian Masonry. the “Chief Supervisor” of the Theoretic Degree in Moscow. All these people differed from each other in many respects but were united due to the rite of Rosicrucian initiation. and magazines. Vernadsky. M.). and “Magus”. Bd. See about him Dovnar-Zapol’ski. alchemy. He was an alchemist and might be initiated into the higher degrees. I. 174-179. those who attained the ninth degree (Magus) ‘knew everything and mastered everything like Moses. ‘Semion Ivanovich Gamaleya’. 111. an introductory “Junior” degree. Gamaleya was one of the most influential spiritual leaders of the Moscow masons. etc. He translated some 200 mystical and alchemic writings. It is known that in Russia only about two dozen people possessed these higher degrees. Schwarz. 14. See Der Signatstern oder die enthüllten sieben Grade der mystischen Freimaurerei. 334. “Philosophus”. Bd. In the seventh degree. See Tarasov. V. F. Encyclopaedie der Freimaurerei. Unfortunately. Adeptus exemptus. Trubetskoi109 . Editor. Kheraskov (1733-1807). The Order’s works were wrapped in deep mystery. 451. 27-37.. the documents available do not allow us to state with confidence that some Russian masons were initi107 S. and natural magic. DMS RSL. 199. initiates got familiar with the stone of wisdom. or “degrees”. followed immediately the fourth degree of regular masonry (“Scottish Master”). The first one. 112. 113-114. Novikov and N. but also often did not know the superior Brothers and the names of their chiefs. He was to keep them informed of the Rosicrucians’ activity. Nezelenov. cit. so that lower-ranking Brothers not only were unfamiliar with the works carried out on more higher degrees. The most advanced among them were J. and everybody who attained this degree became a Rosicrucian. ‘Moscow Freemasons and the Rosicrucian Order’. Serkov. 18-22. the famous poet Mikhail M. Russian Masonry. Ryu. Kabbalah. Since 1787 A. 108 They were “Practicus”.
. Hermes’110 . Lenning. ‘The Moscow Society of Rosicrucians’.54
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Among the members of the Order were prominent social activists and toplevel officials such as the curator of Moscow University. such as Semion Gamaleya 107 . G. 3. Their activity was concentrated around Moscow University. Op. Then came the “Theoreticus” (the “Theoretic degree of Solomon Sciences”). Schröder. “Major”. See Register of MS books translated by S. Russian Masonry in the Reign of Catherine the Great. “Magister”.

There is every reason to believe that some Moscow Rosicrucians were occupied with practical application of the masonic tripartite doctrine – “Magic-Alchemy-Kabbalah”. Longinov. ‘Moscow Rosicrucians of the Eighteenth Century’. The Quest of Russian Masons. and I do not know anything about these sciences except their names’. 113 On Schwarz see Tukalevsky. Meanwhile we can hardly rely on confessions obtained in prison. 5: “The Alchemy of the Gold. Schwarz’. Novikov and Moscow Martinists. passim. Tikhonravov. The Rosicrucians strove to reach a super-natural state.
. G. Novikov and J. Novikov answered investigation officer S. Thus. and answers of N. See also a detailed description of the “Novikov case” in Popov. I. This sceptical view is based mainly on the confessions of masons themselves made during examinations. As Kiesewetter notes. ‘the Brothers of Gold and Rose Cross were selected among the selected. I. He was one of a few Brothers who
111 For example Semeka suggested that ‘Russian Rosicrucians did not carry out alchemic experiments because they did not go beyond the “Theoretic Degree of the Solomon Sciences”’. ‘N. 112 Sokolovskaia. to invoke spirits. 32–37. They themselves might deny this for fear of being accused of conspiracy. ‘Russian Rosicrucians and the works by Catherine II against Masonry’. the archive materials available allow us however to be strongly suspicious of his words. 191-220. # 64. – Kiesewetter. 365-366. though they themselves tried to look like “pure” theorists. to become the lords of their own destiny […] Many Rosicrucians bore witness that it is impossible to describe the blissful and immortal state of body into which they sunk when striving to attain an ecstatic experience’112 . Russian Masonry. to command them and having known all the secrets of the nature. Johann G. F. It seems obvious that they tried to use their knowledge in practice. N. Johann Schwarz Let us consider in detail an outstanding figure. Lopukhin. 74-90 (ch. Turgenev in the investigation – RSHAM. 16. Trubetskoi. ‘Lopukhin. 90. Ryu. 103-104. ‘Moscow Freemasons and the Rosicrucian Order’. answered during examination that the Brothers did not have such a possibility. Schwarz’. ‘Brethern of the Gold and Rosy Cross’. Serkov. Trubetskoi and Kutuzov were highly interested in the art of Rosicrucian Alchemy and dreamed that they would attain higher degrees. On Rosicrucian interest in alchemy. I. to converse with God. The content of masonic archives. 60-81. Sheshkovsky: ‘Neither of us could practise Magic and Kabbalah. idem. 29. I. having attained only lower degrees. The Rose Cross and the Age of Reason. Thus the leader of Moscow “theorists” N.and Rosenkreuz”). ‘Professor J. Novikov. Schwarz (17511784)113 who was the founder of Moscow branch of the Order and the spiritual leader and preceptor of Russian masons. See Semeka. and translations of kabbalistic texts as well as original compositions of Russian masons devoted to Kabbalah which we discovered in the archives are indicative of their deep acquaintance with this tradition. G. the Head of the Order. For this aim Kutuzov was sent to Berlin to practise alchemy near the very fount of Rosicrucian wisdom’.KABBALAH AND RUSSIAN FREEMASONS
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ated into the higher degrees which implied studying of Kabbalah 111 . ‘New Documents on the Novikov Case’. As a scholar noted. see McIntosh. 888. 517.

Serkov. Gagarin (1752–1810) joined the Craft in 1785. See about him: Sokolovskaia. Schwarz was a native of Transylvania. 580. he initiated the establishment of the Pedagogic and Translator seminaries. 14. F. the term “Kabbalah” means here every knowledge of the Divine matters (e. Serkov. an active member of the Biblical Society. F. Numerous copies of his writings are contained in MS collections. 117 See Kiesewetter. he was appointed “professor in ordinary in philosophy”). 83-84.F. N 685. one of the most outstanding Russian masons in the age of Alexander I. He was a pupil of Novikov and Schwarz and an active proponent of the Rosicrucian doctrine. Novikov. and spent some time in Asia as official of the Dutch United East Indian Company.
. Jahrhunderts’. After his meeting with a Russian mason. the first Russian student society. He settled in Moscow by 1779 where he had various positions at Moscow University (in particular. 120 Semeka.S. a member of the Friendly Learned Society. Thus when discussing the problem of the creation of the world he says that ‘the first three chapters of Genesis are written “in a kabbalistic manner”’. 116 See Krasnobaev. ‘The Revival of Masonry under Alexander I’. S. In his writings. ‘Mikhail Ivanovich Nevzorov’. Among his listeners were many masons who later became famous Rosicrucians. DMS RSL. 203-25. He was the editor of some masonic periodicals. In addition. 20-33. for example. 119 See about him: Kuhlman. repeated mention of the term “Kabbalah” must not lead us into error: often. Labzin (1766–1826). He created his own.g. 115 I.I. These institutions became centers of the intellectual life of the time116 . He received a law degree at Jena University. Schwarz refers to Kabbalah many times. He joined the Craft in 1783. Prince I. rather eclectic. and the “Friendly Learned Society”. “Association of University Alumni”. there were typical examples of inversion. where he discussed the most “esoteric” themes117 . It is known that Schwarz gave lectures not only at the University but also at home. 169-184. this is
114 He was the author of a number of articles in masonic periodicals “Moscow Monthly Edition” and “Evening Glow”. Gagarin (1752-1810)115 . Russian Masonry.e. we should work incessantly and try to interpret them with God’s help’120 . e. See. N 142. Smith. Russian Masonry. ‘Eine Gesellschaft Gelehrter Freunde am Ende des 18. 118 A. Russian Masonry. he arrived in Mogiliov (Russia) in 1776. and ‘to understand them. He had great authority with the students of the University. system based on the works by Jacob Boehme and other European mystics. F. i. F. Serkov. ‘Russian Rosicrucians and the works by Catherine II against Masonry’. Vice-president of the Academy of Arts.g. Working the Rough Stone. 213. 361. A. According to N. 257-70. ‘The Moscow University (A historical sketch)’. 153-155. 454-455. ‘Novikov’s “Nephew” A. 147. 47-52. Labzin (1766-1825)118 and M. See Serkov.56
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wrote original theoretical compositions on masonry114 . Labzin’. At the same time. Nevzorov (17621827)119 .

they continued to work inconspicuously.. afterwards. 49-73. Grabianka’. etc. established in 1780s by the mystic and alchemist Benedictine abbé Dom A. but. The History of Russian Masonry in the 19th century. 266. which had branches in Avignon. Sokolovskaia. Dictionnaire de la franc-maçonnerie. Serkov. On Rosicrucian activity in the age of Paul I. the Russian government destroyed the circle of Moscow Rosicrucians. Montpellier. See Serkov. 120-124. Pernety (1716-1796). See Bricaud. the real Kabbalah pervades. some small circles of “theorists” functioned in St. read and translated the works of European mystics. The first Russians were incorporated into this organi121 Sokolovskaia. many masonic lodges gave up their activity. Ligou. Rolle. Russian Masonry in the Reign of Catherine the Great.A. 59-62. Krol Nowego Izraela. Petersburg (under the guidance of A. 917-922. The most interesting among them was “the Lodge of Neptune” opened in Moscow in 1798. ‘“The King of the New Israel”: Thaddeus Grabianka (1740–1817)’. 155-158. 649-50. An interesting mystical Illuminati society “The New Israel” (or “The People of God”) was founded in 1785 by a Polish nobleman Tadeusz (Thaddeus) Leszczyc-Grabianka (1740-1807) at Avignon and moved in the early 19th century to St. The History of Russian Masonry in the 19th century. Douai and Mohilev (Ukraine). and collected a great library of mystical books 121 . In this collection. akin to the works of Saint-Martin. Its members continued Rosicrucian activity. the members of his lodge had interest in Kabbalah. 122 I. without any doubt.F. Russian Masonry. The Academie was especially active in Avignon. and needs to be deciphered. Pozdejev joined the Order in 1784 and afterwards became one of the leaders of “theoretical” masonry of the age of Alexander I. Taking into consideration the extant part of Pozdeev’s library.
. Lion and Montpellier. 123 Grabianka was a member of the secret society Academi des Vrais Maçons. Nevertheless. Labzin) and in Moscow (guided by I. Pypin. Meillassoux–Le Cerf. Eli. 579-603. Danilewicz. it is never mentioned directly. Dom Pernety et les Illuminés d’Avignon. 171-174. This body probably was a continuation of the Académie des Sages (dating back to the second half of the seventeenth century). 4453. ‘An Eighteenth-Century Magician’.KABBALAH AND RUSSIAN FREEMASONS
57
true for his treatises on the “kabbalistic light of the soul”) but not that specific set of Jewish mystical ideas and practices whose description can be found in other masonic MSs. ‘The Revival of Masonry under Alexander I’. Pozdeev)122 . see Serkov. Even after the official legalization of masonic activity in 1803. Serkov. Les Illuminés d’Avignon. Longinov. K. Kabbalah in masonry in 1792-1822 In 1792. 323332. Petersburg123 . The lodges remained and were reopened but existed secretly and were in fact illegal. ‘The Revival of Masonry under Alexander I’. there are some kabbalistic books that belonged formerly to the voluminous library of a mason Ivan Filatyev. At the beginning of the 19th century. Vernadsky. Masonry in Russia. Russian Masonry. A. ‘T.. On Grabianka see Ujejski. it is hidden there on the sub-text level. all his teaching.

172. 174-176. alchemist and kabbalist. He came to Russia in 1809 in order to be the head of the Hebrew Chair at St. Around him. and the preparation to this experience required keeping the fast and solitude.. the Second and near Advent of our Lord Jesus Christ. or Kabbalah’125 . a circle of scholars including authoritative masons was assembled. A select part of the members of the society constituted a “Council of Prophets” and had “correspondence with heaven” 124 . 1805) Grabianka found numerous admirers among the aristocracy (meetings of the society took place in the Marble Palace. A. he was a pupil of the abbé Louis-Philibert de Morveau (Brumore) (?-1786). Vice Admiral S. ‘The King of the New Israel’. a famous mason. in the rooms of the crown-prince Konstantin Pavlovich). 127 In 1807 Grabianka was arrested and soon died in prison. for many years lived in Russia. his society decayed. M.V. 70-76.I. Pleshcheyev and Prince N. Serkov. See Sokolovskaia. Fessler 128 . and studying it he expected to attain an understanding of the higher magic that was promised to him due to kabbalistic computations’126 . ‘An Eighteenth-century Magician’. From 18071810 he was the Master of the Polar Star lodge in St Petersburg.58
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zation at the end of 1780s (e.e. Danilewicz. Repnin) but after his arrival in St. Fessler (1756-1839). a native of Hungary. the “King of the New Israel”. masonic activity in the Theoretical Degree continued for about a cenSokolovskaya. Longinov. they predicted that ‘by God’s order. Grabianka. id. The History of Russian Masonry in the 19th century. is known to have had a keen interest in Jewish mysticism. the gift of prophecy]” through the science of numbers. Among the members were almost all eminent Russian Rosicrucians. Russian Masonry. The prophesies were accomplished in an ecstatic state. ‘An Eighteenth-century Magician’. the well-known reformer of masonry who established his own “scientific system” (“sientificheskuyu sistemu”) in which central attention was concentrated on the moral principles of the masonic teaching. 126 Longinov. Longinov suggested that ‘Grabianka had to read the Bible very assiduously. 832. and His glorious reign on the earth’ would occur in 1835. Petersburg (in August. ‘a wiseman “who had a voice [i. ‘The Revival of Masonry under Alexander I’. Petersburg Ecclesiastical Academy. 128 J. His prediction of the Second Advent was probably based on these “computations” 127 . 52. Another outstanding figure within masonry of the early 19th century was Johann A. He probably taught the masons interested in Kabbalah the language of the Old Testament. 581. 582. ‘The Revival of Masonry under Alexander I’.
124 125
. Kabbalah after the official prohibition of masonry (1822) It is clear from archive materials that after the official prohibition of masonry in 1822.g.

276-277. id. hardly exceeding 80 members 131 . Father S. Kaminin. and Moscow departments of the Senate. and member of the Theoretic Degree of Solomon Sciences. Filosofov’ 133 . whose meetings occurred four times a year 132 . which has no analogues in Western masonry. The meetings did not include any rites (except for initiation ceremonies). Arseniev. The most eminent “elders” were S. D. The History of Russian Masonry in the 19th century. 130 See Serkov. Kutnevich. Golubinsky. Their meetings were frequent. Gamaleya. From the family archive. 134 In the 1840s-1850s one of the spiritual leaders of the “theoretic” masons was Father Simeon I. and though Freemasonry may be exterminated. Sokolov (1772-1860). Pozdejev. They continued to pay special attention to translations of various works on mysticism. See.. 265. 133 Alexander A. the author had a knowledge of Hebrew. All their activity was directed to self-correction and restoration of the primeval pure nature in the soul. Moscow and Tula Clubs of the nobility. A. their main bases were Moscow University. Fonvizin. L’ovshin. some fragments of Sefer ha-Zohar. the number of people who were involved in this activity was rather small. S. Masonic influence on the Orthodox Church and ecclesiastical censorship was especially strong134 . Moscow governor general Chancellery. and other kabbalistic texts. A number of priests and abbots also were among the “theoretical” Brothers. 247. R. At the same time. the Brothers were occupied with reading mystical works and commenting on them. “theoretical” masons continued their public activity and cherished plans of social and moral amendment in Russia. Filosofov (1829–1900?) – mason. 131 Most of them belonged earlier (before 1822) to the Moscow lodge of Seekers after Manna. Sokolov. 270. In all probability. The masons maintained close relations with St. some “theoretic” masons belonged to the “interior” Rosicrucian Order. his notes on Hebrew. e. P. etc.g. At the same time. taught in secret masonic meetings.A. the attorneygeneral of the Holy Synod. Bibikov and V. and mystical meaning of Hebrew letters are indicative of his acquaintance with the language. in the MSs collection of Arseniev’s family there are several very important compositions written in the 40s–50s of the 19 th century ‘by the hand of A. in 1823-1834 there were 169 meetings. one of the most respected Russian masonic elders129 . 759-760. A. Father F. Stepanov. An additional center of masonic ac129 A special category of the most authoritative spiritual mentors in Russian masonry.. Ruf Stepanov. S. e. In the mid 19 th century. See Serkov. that though ‘external lodges have been closed […] nobody can prohibit [us] to work in our internal lodges. etc. the Order’s goal can not be abolished’130 . on the famous philosopher. Nechayev. Within his papers we find a relatively correct translation of Sefer Yezirah. 132 Its chiefs in the 1820s–1910s were V.. A.. The History of Russian Masonry in the 19th century. D. I.g. In addition. V. Russian Masonry. V. Sefer ha-Temunah. on a member of the Holy Synod V.
. Ibid. Arseniev. He had influence on a “theorist” S. alchemy and Kabbalah. professor of the Moscow Ecclesiastical Academy.KABBALAH AND RUSSIAN FREEMASONS
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tury.I. In particular. Sergius Trinity Lavra and some Moscow monasteries.

19. Jews and Freemasons in Europe. one of ideologists of the “theoretical” masonry and a Rosicrucian of higher initiation138 . He also founded The Agricultural Magazine (Zemlyedel’cheskiy Zhurnal) where his ‘translations [of the articles] on agricultural problems’ were printed. ‘Ein verschollener jüdischer Mystiker der Aufklärungszeit. Kabbalah. joined the Craft in 1810s and occupied key positions in the Grand Provincial Lodge of Russia. Gagarin was its chairman. one of the heads of Russian masonry and Minister of Interior. Maslov translated into Russian the fundamental work Philosophie der Geschichte oder über die Tradition (Philosophy of History. In memoriam. S. Molitor (1779-1861). Die Erforschung der Kabbala von Reuchlin bis zur Gegenwart. see Katz. In the mid-19 th century he was the head of a secret “theoretic” lodge in St. who had close relations with the Brothers. 138 See about him: Krasnopevkov.P.P. 42-52. It is remarkable
Serkov. Count Sergey S. 141 See Schulte.A.J. 462. 31-32. whose belief in social reforms was based on the masonic outlook.S. Gershom Scholem. Kabbalah: New Perspectives. Shipov its vice-chairman). At the same time. 161-177. Memoirs on Stepan Alekseevitch Maslov. senator. 99. ‘“Die Buchstaben haben… ihre Wurzeln oben. 75-76. Maslov. Molitor’s book also had an essential effect on the views of Scholem himself141 . J. as well as the abovementioned Arseniev’s one. The doctrine and rites of this Order are known to be deeply influenced by kabbalistic and Frankist ideology 139 . 26–53.” Scholem und Molitor’. 143164. 247-278. 1723-1939. These people had a certain influence on the abolition of serfdom in 1861135 . member of the Council of State. id. The Secretary of the Society was S.A. An analysis of kabbalistic elements in the teaching of the “Brethern” is in Scholem. 140 Scholem. It is noteworthy that one of the main proponents of the reform was S. It is noteworthy that Molitor had a high masonic degree and was historiographer of the masonic Order of the Asiatic Brethren which was tightly connected with the Rosicrucian movement.. ‘Kabbalah in the Teaching of the Order of Asiatic Brethern’. Scholem’s opinion. Russian Masonry. See also McIntosh. contains most of the kabbalistic MSs.60
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tivity was in the Imperial Moscow society for Agriculture. See Serkov. F 147). 284. 279-280. In G. ‘he revealed […] an insight into the world of Kabbalah far superior to that of most Jewish scholars of his time’140 . The History of Russian Masonry in the 19th century. the members of this Society 137 . 137 Lanskoy’s Stock in the Russian State Library (DMS RSL. Molitor’s bulky work is devoted to a detailed analysis of Christianity and Judaism and a comparison between Jewish and Christian mysticism. Biale. Russian Masonry. Kabbalah and Counter-History. a mason S. E. Maslov (1793-1879). 201. Sovetov. Idel. Hirschfeld’. Lanskoy (1787-1862)136 . or On Tradition) by Christian kabbalist F. Lanskoy. 139 For a detailed description of the history and teaching of the Order of Asiatic Brethern. The Society became a stronghold of Russian liberal noblemen. The Rose Cross and the Age of Reason. Petersburg. 527-528. Serkov.
135 136
. 2760-2777. where many “theorists” participated (a Rosicrucian S. Burmistrov. 215-216. Molitor was the last Christian kabbalist who had a deep comprehension of the Jewish mystical tradition. Capitulum Phoenix and some other lodges. 121.

in general. Begichev. In addition. etc. Stepanov. moral and religious conditions in Russia. Ideology. and I. D.. The Paradise Myth in 18th Century Russia. Context. It is known that the masonic teaching. A. e.KABBALAH AND RUSSIAN FREEMASONS
61
therefore that this book was very popular in Russia of the 19th century142 . Arsenievs is kept in the Russian State Library for Foreign Literature. It elucidated the structure of divine and terrestrial worlds and the relationship between them.S. F. and its kabbalistic elements. Odoyevski. political. among his readers was. played a significant role in Russian literature. and assisted in revealing the hidden sense of the Scriptures. L. Conclusions It is obvious that the interest of Russian masons in Jewish mysticism was far from superficial. Odoyevski’s Library. Bobrov but also in the work of V. the Supreme leader of the Order and a preserver of masonic heritage. Gradually.F. 69-71. In our opinion. masonic enthusiasm for Kabbalah was aimed at rather practical purposes. was an integral part of the masonic doctrine. Kabbalah.
142 Molitor’s ideas were circulated not only in masonic circles. 144 A copy of this rare book with handwritten notes made by V.V. See also Baehr ‘The Masonic Component in Eighteenth-Century Russian Literature’. true knowledge which had been granted to mankind through revelation.145 . Moscow. Kabbalistic concepts of the universal man (Adam Kadmon) and global improvement (tikkun ha-olam) served as an ideological basis for the masonic program of radical reformation of social. Odoyevski. Baehr. N. It is worthy of note that the last representative of this tradition. in particular. Gogol. See Catalogue of V. studied in the first years of the 20 th century the same treatise by Samuel Richter Die wahrhaffte und vollkommene Bereitung des philosophischen Steins der Brüderschafft aus dem Orden des Gülden und RosenCreutzes (1710) from which. Father Johann Arseniev. A MS of this book translated into Russian in 1861 is in Arseniev’s archive. Arseniev (1829-1915). activity of “theoretic” masons was fading away. 145 See first of all Michael Weiskopf’s groundbreaking study of Masonic-Theosophic background of the Russian Romantic literature: Weiskopf.S. Kheraskov and S. initiated into the Order his son and grandson143 . Moreover. as a matter of fact. and the last case of reception occurred in early 20th century when V. Gogol’s Subject: Mythology. and not only in the writings of “masonic” authors like M. began the history of the “new Rosicrucians” 144 . pari passu with Magic and Alchemy. 368 (N 3101). Regular meetings continued up to the 1870s. Leighton’s book
.g. as might seem to be the case at first glance. Russian Masonry. 121-139. a Russian writer and Romanticist V. They looked on Kabbalah as a tradition that preserved invaluable grains of ancient wisdom. 143 See about Arseniev’s masonic dynasty Serkov.

Schelling’s Philosophy in Russia.G.. Burmistrov (1969) is Research Assistant in Jewish Philosophy and Mysticism at the Institute of Philosophy.I. Arnold. Russian Academy of Sciences. Arseniev. 2 (1781).). 1-4 [in Russian]. Histoire des Rose-Croix et les Origines de la Franc-Maçonnerie. A. 37-70.L.
.I. Petersburg Univ. St. Thus. Leighton draws sometimes ill-founded conclusions. Vol. ‘The Masonic Component in Eighteenth-Century Russian Literature’. Berdyaev) 147 . The Biography of A. Pustarnakov. I. Moskovskoye ezhemesyachnoye izdaniye (Moscow Monthly Edition).). 147 Burmistrov.-P.). Press 1996. Kamenski. V. 121–39. Orel 1912. Florenski. Obviously enough. Odoyevski. ‘Vladimir Soloviev and Kabbalah’.. Oxford: Meeuws 1976. ——.‘To the readers’.
Bibliography
(Anon. Bulgakov. id. the Rosicrucians typified the conservative ideals. Paris: Mercure de France 1955. Kilcher’s “metaphoric” Kabbalah) in the writings of Russian Romantics of the first half of the 19th century.‘The Condition of Man Before the Fall’. and Lecturer in Jewish Mysticism at the Jewish University in Moscow. 1:1. Petersburg: St. S. 146 See Sakulin. ——. (ed. as a component of masonic outlook. 1. in: Cross. Maria I. Fedorov. The Esoteric Tradition in Russian Romantic Literature is mostly based on unreliable data about Jewish Kabbalah. 235-238 [in Russian]. T. ‘Kabbalah in Russian Philosophy’. V.Gamaleya – dukhovniye mistiki). 7-104. S. Russian Historiosophy of the Eighteenth Century (Russkaia istoriosofiia 18 veka). P. Koshelev. Paris: G. From the family archive: S. S. Russian literature in the Age of Catherine the Great. Vechernyaya Zarya (Evening Glow). Soloviev. In the early 19th century when rationalist masonry was expanded anew.. Artemieva. S. European Mystical Tradition and Russian Philosophical Thought. Kabbalah has become an important factor in Russian history and culture.62
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& MARIA ENDEL
Even more important was the influence of masonic ideology on the Russian public conscience. Vol. Their religious and political views exerted a great influence on the development of Russian Romantic philosophy and social utopianism in the first half of the 19 th century as well as of the Slavophile movement146 .. (ed. P.I. Endel (1974) is Lecturer in the History of Jewish Philosophy and Mysticism at the Jewish University in Moscow. these ideas remained very important in Russian religious philosophy of the late 19 th-early 20th centuries (V. 1 (Moscow 1782).
Konstantin Y. Thus. From the History of Russian Idealism: Prince V.V. Kolyupanov. F. N. When trying to reveal the elements of “masonic” Kabbalah (similar to A. The Moscow Circle of “Lyubomudrs”. Sokolov and S. Baehr. Maisonneuve & Larose 1970.I. La Rose-Croix et ses Rapports avec la Franc-Maçonnerie. social and politic concepts of mystical masonry became an ideological basis for 18 th century Russian conservatism. Gamaleya – spiritual mystics (Iz semeynogo arkhiva. Sokolov i S.

The Theology of Electricity in Swabian Pietist Theosophy In the creation story in the Book of Genesis. its other leading figures were Prokop Divisch (1696-1765) and Johann Ludwig Fricker (1729-1766). Faivre. and three days and three nights are said to pass before he creates the sun. Commentaire.
Benz. 4 Benz. the moon and the stars. 2. Philosophie de la Nature. the Kabbalah. he proposed to show that the ‘discovery of electricity and the simultaneous discovery of magnetic and galvanic phenomena were accompanied by a most significant change in the image of God’. Kircher regarded God as an all-pervasive. anthropology and scriptural exegesis. In particular. Besides Oetinger. forms and sustains everything. The Theology of Electricity. all-pervasive power. 1. whose interests embraced the theosophy of Jacob Boehme. One detects a shift from the idea of the divine magnet to that of a magnetic.70
NICHOLAS GOODRICK-CLARKE
prevail over an orthodox notion of an individual personal deity. The Theology of Electricity. The purpose of this paper is to trace the transformation of the theology of electricity from its Swabian Pietist origins through 19th-century scientific occultism by examining its role in the Theosophy of Helena Petrovna Blavatsky and the racial esotericism of Jörg Lanz von Liebenfels. Friedrich Christoph Oetinger and Benz. This shift in emphasis becomes manifest in the pansophical theology of nature and signals an early stage in the transition to the Romantic philosophy of nature. What then is this first Light? The interpretation of the first light in Genesis was a concern of Friedrich Christoph Oetinger (1702-1782). On Oetinger see Weyer-Menkhoff. Ernst Benz was the first scholar to identify the “theology of electricity” amongst a group of 18th-century Swabian Pietist theosophers. He also claimed that these discoveries led to a ‘completely new understanding of the relation of body and soul. alchemy. It was in mid-18th century Germany. Rösler. Faivre. the Lord first creates Light. 27-44. the leading Swabian Pietist. which gives life. Through his work on magnetism. of spirit and matter’2. Swedenborg in Deutschland. ‘Magia Naturalis’. and the visionary revelations of Emanuel Swedenborg 3. Ernst Benz has extensively documented this particular group of theosophers and their speculations on electricity. while Antoine Faivre has since provided detailed commentaries on their work in the context of natural magic and Naturphilosophie 4. among Protestant Pietist theologians and scientists. Oetinger. radiant power. that a self-conscious Theology of Electricity was elaborated as an esoteric doctrine relating to cosmology. Benz was also concerned with the interrelationship of the religious and scientific consciousness. ‘Extraits’.
2 3
.

Fricker joined in the latter’s chemical researches. Oetinger combined his theological interests with a knowledge of the latest developments in astronomy.. He also invented the first lightning conductor. geology. Secondly.THE ESOTERIC USES OF ELECTRICITY
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It is significant that these theologians were also practising scientists. A frequent visitor to Oetinger’s parsonage at Walddorf. Thirdly. In his introduction to Divisch’s famous work. As a Protestant pastor in Württemberg. Oetinger set about an interpretation of Genesis Chapter One with reference to the first light. Fricker had studied theology and natural sciences at Tübingen. which displayed the movements of the solar system. It penetrates all matter and finally fuses with matter itself. Benz sees this idea as the birth of the idea of evolution in modern European thought5. Firstly. Wishing to exploit the salt deposits of the district. he continued his mathematical studies and helped construct an astronomical clock. Oetinger identifies the light of the first day as the Spiritus mundi or the
5
Ibid. 45-46. In 1770 he published a work on the links between metaphysics and chemistry. What was this light and what became of it? His enquiry led to a new understanding of the relationship between spirit and matter. it is no less than the principle of evolution that was part of Creation from the beginning and that manifests itself as a principle of “natural creation”. whose seed was laid in the lap of matter by God Himself and which contained the subsequent creation of all forms of life. God and nature. which encouraged his studies in natural science. Oetinger believed that the divine word of the Bible presents a document of the self-realization of God. The new philosophy of life. the electrical fire. He pursued his own experiments in alchemy and electricity. botany and zoology. which spreads out over chaos as a stimulating. warming and form-giving life principle. Benz has commented at length on Oetinger’s conclusions as follows. involved a new interpretation of the story of Creation.
. is the life principle that repeatedly generates new forms. actively contributing to the discovery of electrical phenomena. which Oetinger developed and based on his theory of electricity. Later. as the Roman Catholic priest of Prendiz near Znaim (Znojmo) he studied meteorology and wrote his work on meteorological electricity. Theorie von der meteorologischen Electricité (1765). added to matter itself. Duke Karl Eugen of Württemberg favoured his appointment as prelate and abbot of Murrhardt Abbey in view of his scientific knowledge. Next to the “first creation” in the genesis through the will of God comes the “natural creation”. Prokop Divisch became a member of the Premonstratensian Order. Oetinger asserts that the first light of the first day is the “electrical fire”. that wants to manifest itself again and again in new living shapes. Born in Moravia.

From the dawn of creation a new life element is added to matter. 50-52. Bad Teinach. “emanations” or “forces” of God. From this he inferred that the electrical fire is really the subtle fiery principle and life-source of things. the light into those elements . 45. like a soul or spirit [. Oetinger commented that ‘the almighty Creator squeezed . Biblisch-Emblematisches Wörterbuch. ‘All physical beings have within them spiritual forces which can be stimulated so that they emanate and make themselves known’7. 10 See Betz. animate and organised beings is rendered “species electri” by the translators.. others “electrical fire”. was enclosed in it. It should be recalled that Oetinger had a life-long interest in the Kabbalah. several called it “primeval” and “spirit of the world”’9. 8 Fricker. Theorie. citing the incidence of the Chasmal (flash of lightning) in Ezekiel and the Apocalypse whence emerge living beings. some of them gave it the name “elementary fire”. demonstrating its special effects in the clouds. Theorie von der meteorologischen Electricité. Oetinger’s view of nature is thus quite distinct from the Aristotelian concept of matter... which hangs in the Church of the Holy Trinity.72
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electrical fire6. Theology of Electricity. 11 Benz. As an embedded principle it will determine all future developments. was blended with it. In his book he took over this theory of the Chasmal. saying such innermost radiance as the purest source of all living.10 Divisch followed Oetinger’s references to the Kabbalah. Traditional scholastic anthropology
Oetinger. Oetinger.] The old universal sages recognised this spirit of nature. 9 Divisch. The point was underlined by Fricker: ‘There is in nature a self-movement that we cannot reproduce: it is in the electrical and elementary fire’8. a learned Jew. souls or intelligences. containing within itself the cause of all future creation. 204. Licht vom unerschaffenen Lichte. Theorie. storms and lightning 11. On his visit to Frankfurt in 1729 he was given a copy of Christian Knorr von Rosenroth’s Kabbala denudata (1677-1684) and then pursued further studies with Coppel Hecht. Oetinger made reference to the kabbalistic doctrine of the Sefiroth.
6 7
. Life has been embedded in matter as a secret concealed impulse. or the “reflections”. Oetinger considered what happened to this first light when the sun was created on the fourth day.. In earlier correspondence (27 February 1755) with Divisch. ‘Anhang zu der Theoria Electricitatis’ in Divisch. Divisch’s answer was that the first light was sunk into matter itself. In 1763 Oetinger published a major work about the famous kabbalistic painting commissioned by Princess Antonia.. in Divisch. who directed his attention to parallels between the Kabbalah and Jakob Böhme.. 13-14. 4-6. 122. Oetinger’s discovery of electricity as the secret fire of nature already mixed with matter indicated a new view of man.

With Oetinger. Theorie. even so the natural soul was his already concealed in dust. plant and animal realms through his soul which originates in the first light that created an animate universe. 92. the spiritual the second’. The first forming of man from the dust of the earth was already filled with electrical fire: God did not make a dead human image.
Oetinger.THE ESOTERIC USES OF ELECTRICITY
73
had stressed man’s rational faculties: man was an image of God solely in regard to his ability to think. electricity and magnetism in the Bible. Paul therefore says: ‘The psychic or soul-like was the first..12
Fricker endorsed Oetinger’s view. It rather constitutes a subsequent second act: man’s endowment with the faculty of thinking. Oetinger believed that the patriarchs of the Old Testament had knowledge of a “divine physics”. this lesser life sustains itself and spreads farther through a natural. earthly or animal soul in addition to the lofty light of reason . 401 (in article “Leben”) Fricker. The inhalation of spirit is not identical with the act of the first inspiration. As Benz has shown. Given its ensouling force and evolutionary potential. ‘Magia naturalis. Man was thus isolated from the rest of Creation. especially animals. 14 Benz. in Divisch. orderly. slow. The electrical theologians considered it blasphemous to assume that God had created an inanimate lump of clay and subsequently breathed the spirit into it. the electrical fire was already inherent in the matter of the clay from which God created man. and Faivre’s editions of Oetinger (‘Extraits’) and Rösler (‘Commentaire’). 1765’. Biblisches und Emblematisches Wörterbuch. On electricity in Swabian Pietism. with reason. To them. Theology of Electricity. stating that man possessed not only a rational but also an “animal” soul: ‘Man has a psychic. but during its formation the machine already received its psychic soul in a concealed manner. Oetinger was convinced that magic was a legitimate endowment of mankind viewed as the collaborator of God in the sense of an insight into the innermost secrets of nature with control over their powers. man is no longer viewed as a being quite distinct from prehuman life forms by virtue of his intellect but rather a creature intimately connected with the mineral.
12 13
. and imperceptibly progressing electrization’13 . and there was no continuity of being with the natural order. 95-103. Not only did this enable him to rediscover the most modern findings of physics.. the lump of clay already possessed a sensitive soul. see also Faivre. and that it would be rediscovered in the final epoch in the history of mankind 14. Oetinger further emphasised this by identifying electricity and its application as a form of magic. Oetinger’s notion of the electrical fire of nature is an outstanding historical example of Western esotericism. but it also allowed him to posit that this knowledge had been lost through people turning away from God.
The first man was made from dust.

Mesmer had written his doctoral dissertation De influxu planetarum in corpus humanum (1766). 88. in which he posited the existence of an invisible. Blavatsky quotes verbatim the first eight of Mesmer’s twenty-seven propositions concerning the universal fluid and ani-
15 16
Faivre.74
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2. which had become strongly associated with occultist currents in the 19 th century. universally distributed fluid that flows continuously everywhere and serves as a vehicle for the mutual influence between heavenly bodies. should thus assimilate electricity into its metaphysical and esoteric discourse. Pondering the cause of universal gravitation. In the first place. Electricity in Modern Theosophy Antoine Faivre has emphasised the significance of late 19th-century occultism as a modernizing and modifying influence on the esoteric traditions of theosophy and German Naturphilosophie. the earth and living things16 . famous as the founder of “animal magnetism” for the therapeutic treatment of illness. 36. especially in its view of a living. Blavatsky’s idea of electricity was influenced strongly by Mesmerism. as an “electric vital fluid” recalls the ideas of Franz Anton Mesmer (1734-1815). It is unsurprising that modern Theosophy. Blavatsky was not a scientist. Her description of the animal soul of nature. Mesmer actually regarded himself as a Newtonian. Occultism typically proclaims its hostility towards the shallowness of materialism in an age of positivism. However. The Wizard from Vienna. but assimilated her knowledge of electricity through wide reading and general knowledge.
. Her view of electricity has certain similarities to the speculations of the 18th-century electrical theologians but there are also important distinctions. the penchant of occultists for phenomena and demonstrations show the extent to they are inextricably involved in a dialogue with the materialist assumptions and discoveries of modern science15 . animate nature. His “fluid” is a modern expression of long-standing speculations about “subtle” agents such as pneuma. Access to Western Esotericism. Buranelli. Irrespective of Mesmer’s own desire to found a new rational science. The basic sympathy between this tradition and Mesmerism guaranteed the latter many supporters among 19th-century occultists. concerned to discover the mechanical laws that operated in the universe. Theories of subtle matter typify Western esotericism. his theory is manifestly rooted in esoteric traditions. Mesmer and animal magnetism feature extensively in Blavatsky’s thought and writings. By contrast with the 18th-century electrical theologians. as presented in the seminal texts of Helena Petrovna Blavatsky (18311891).

THE ESOTERIC USES OF ELECTRICITY
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mal magnetism contained in his Mémoire sur la découverte du magnétisme animal (1799)17. distribution.
. Thomas Edison’s carbon filament lamp. in virtue of which the various orders of the universe are welded together and made into one? In fine. 168. the Xenobe Gramme dynamo converted mechanical energy into electrical energy. widely discussed by scientists at the time she founded the Theosophical Society. middle nature of the metaphysical universe.... and utilization of electrical energy. that a universe of this nature . Isis Unveiled. or
17 18
Blavatsky. which developed the idea of the universal ether as a parallel. By the time Blavatsky arrived in New York in 1873. when energy is carried from matter into Ether.. Blavatsky. invisible universe of force:
Now is it not natural to imagine. electricity was already beginning to impact on public awareness. when it is carried from Ether to matter it is carried from the invisible to the visible18. In Isis Unveiled she frequently referred to The Unseen Universe (1875) by B. I. Stewart and P. 172-173.. electricity was emerging as an energy source of great potential in the 1870s.G.. what we generally called Ether. I. connected by bonds of energy with the visible universe. Its first application had been in communications with the discovery of the telegraph by Samuel Morse in 1840. this spiritual and universal ether . If occult Mesmerism supplied a mystique to magnetism. so that when the motions of the visible universe are transferred into Ether. but a medium plus the invisible order of things. Blavatsky’s interest in electricity as an animating soul-like force or fluid was also linked to the notion of “ether”. may be not a mere medium. 72. In another context she refers to the electricity produced by the cerebral pile of man: ‘this soul-electricity. Gait. forming as it were a species of cement. patented in 1880. Isis Unveiled. While important work on electrical current and conduction had already been undertaken by Michael Faraday in the 1830s and 1840s. is also capable of receiving energy from it? May we not regard the Ether. it is carried from the visible into the invisible . part of them are conveyed as by a bridge into the invisible universe .
She related these authors’ views on ether to the idea of electricity as an intelligent force of formation. as not merely a bridge between one order of things and another. is the ambient... Blavatsky’s notion of electricity was at least partially inspired by its contemporary high promise. This process led to the installation of the first central power station at San Francisco in 1879. 187-188. or the medium. Invented in 1872. stimulated major developments in the generation. new theories linking electromagnetism and other forms of energy such as light had been advanced by James Clerk Maxwell and Hermann von Helmholtz in the 1860s.

then.
. the action of which resembles –on an immense scale – that of a living Force created by WILL . or –Electricity 20. the electric vital fluid.. the transcendental binding Unity of all Cosmic Energies. In a characteristic jibe at materialism. intelligent nature of ether or electricity were presented in the form of a cosmology in Blavatsky’s later work The Secret Doctrine (1888). Fohat is described as being behind all such manifestations as light. the animal soul of Nature. Blavatsky clearly identifies electricity as a primary agent in the cosmogony of Theosophy.. while their speculations were engendered and confirmed by
19 20 21
Blavatsky. metaphysically.. which under the Will of the Creative Logos. On the Cosmic... it is present in the constructive power that carries out. giving them the first impulse which becomes in time law .76
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rather of the incorporeal universe . with regard to the development and growth of that special thing. which is no less than “the LIFE of the universe”. Blavatsky remarks that ‘while science speaks of evolution through brute matter. the “Word made flesh”. 322. and the messenger of Cosmic and human ideations: the active force in Universal Life. Like Divisch. on the unseen as on the manifested planes.
In her commentary on the sixth stanza. sound. he is simply that potential creative power in virtue of whose action the NOUMENON of all future phenomena divides . the objectivised thought of the gods.. He is. or in the Divine Thought. unites and brings together all forms. so to say. is the personified electric vital power. 139. electric.. This book is conceived as a commentary on the Stanzas of Dzyan. On the earthly plane his influence is felt in the magnetic and active force generated by the strong desire of the magnetizer. Blavatsky. in the formation of things – from the planetary system down to the glow-worm and simple daisy – the plan in the mind of nature.. The Secret Doctrine. Fricker and Oetinger.. heat. will never know anything of the great phenomenon of life until she does’ 19 These scattered references to the all-pervasive. In the fifth stanza occurs an enigmatic reference to a cosmogonic agent called Fohat. I. adhesion as well as being the “spirit” of electricity. She writes:
[Fohat] is that Occult. I. vital power. Isis Unveiled. and the preserving fourth principle. blind force and senseless motion. Blavatsky sees electricity in terms of an emanationist ensoulment or animation of matter as a first act of the Creation. However. Fohat. The Secret Doctrine. As an abstraction it begins with the one unknowable causality and ends as omnipresent mind and life immanent in every atom of matter.. Fohat produces nothing yet by himself. a secret work of Tibetan wisdom-literature she allegedly received from masters in the Himalayas. Fohat is the Solar Energy. In his secondary aspect. Blavatsky. on a lower scale. 109-112. occultists point to intelligent law and sentient Life. and adds that Fohat is the guiding Spirit of all this’21. [and] has to be studied before it is admitted by science. which . I.

she prefers a colourful spectrum of references to ancient Egyptian and Greek mythology. her work is chiefly derived from Blavatsky. While notions of “energy” feature prominently in New Age metaphysics and therapies.
22
Alice A. A Treatise on Cosmic Fire (1925). the divine inspiration of the electrical fire is not available to all creation. the idea of electricity possessing a formative power and inherent containment of all future evolutionary forms is noticeably common to both Blavatsky and the electric theologians. According to the particular doctrine. She identified seven forms of electricity in the solar system. electricity was henceforth firmly established in Theosophy. and also equated the “fire of mind” corresponding to Manas (the fifth principle of man in Theosophy) with electricity. From 1919 she claimed to be in contact with a Master she called the Tibetan and subsequently wrote some two dozen books based on channelled teachings. which interferes with the cosmic plan.
. Bailey laid particular emphasis on the notion of seven rays or forms of energy which inform all existence. In this case. 310-316. an important offshoot of the Theosophical Society. she made extensive reference to the role of electricity in cosmology and anthropology. the intensive application of electricity and electronics in late twentieth-century society have led to some negative evaluations (e. However. Alice A. First introduced to Theosophy in America in 1915. so that divine assistance or intervention is necessary for the recovery of order and the redemption of creation. Interestingly enough. where “falls” were understood as phases of the periodic “descent of spirit into matter”. she used the term “Electric Fire” to denote the vitality or the will-to-be of an entity22.THE ESOTERIC USES OF ELECTRICITY
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Biblical exegesis. The Secret Doctrine presents a drama of cosmic Fall and redemption. corresponding to the seven planes of consciousness. made electricity an important part of her revelation. “electro-pollution”). The fall of man is not seen as the consequence of an act of mortal man. Bailey (1880-1949). thereby engendering a Fall with consequent sin and suffering. A Treatise on Cosmic Fire. However. those cosmic powers devoid of the electrical fire posit a negative. Jewish Kabbalah. evil principle. Given its contemporary impact on culture and society.g. Bailey’s ideas have had a seminal influence on New Age religion. In her major work. she swiftly rose to a leading position in the American section of the Society. the founder of the Arcane School. but it can also be combined with dualist and manichaean cosmologies. Bailey. Blavatsky’s articulation of Theosophy contained a streak of such gnosticism. and Tibetan Buddhism in support of her idea of an ancient wisdom-tradition. Electricity has played a significant role in emanationist cosmology and related theologies of creation and redemption.

484). A footnote identified these monsters as the “missing link”. the Lemurians. They begat upon them dumb races . 184). The Occult Roots of Nazism. 483). Lanz’s new religion was rooted in his political concern at the democratizing. Friedrich Buchmayr. He articulated an ethnic religion which made a soteriological distinction between the higher “blond” Aryan races (with which he identified the Germans) and the inferior “dark” races of the Slav. Balkan and Mediterranean peoples23. going on all fours. Significantly. Lanz placed considerable emphasis on the spiritual nature of electricity. This fall became irreversible at the time of Blavatsky’s third successive race on earth. the founder of a heterodox racialist religion with sources in Christianity. 3. no angel can remain immaculate nor any avatar be perfect. History begins with the descent to earth of the “Gods”. Once landed on and having touched this planet of dense matter. ecclesiastical. The resulting politics of identity led to a pan-German and völkisch movement among the German middle-classes of Austria who wished to maintain the traditional preeminence of German culture and authority in the state. later called “Ariosophy”. who incarnate in mankind. Der Mann. Biographisch-Bibliographisches Kirchenlexikon 16 (1999).
23 On Lanz von Liebenfels. Electrotheology in Ariosophy This hint was later elaborated by Jörg Lanz von Liebenfels (1874-1954). cultural and linguistic representation. see Goodrick-Clarke. an evolutionary descent without the animating power of electricity. who “fell” into matter and began to procreate sexually rather than create spiritually. Lanz would ultimately buttress his political convictions with sacred legitimation. and ‘this is the Fall’ (II. ‘Lanz von Liebenfels’. to keep the shame untold’. egalitarian trends of modernity. 941-945. Blavatsky described this event in terms of miscegenation or interbreeding: ‘And those which had no spark took huge she-animals unto them. A dumb race. der Hitler die Ideen gab.. because every avatar is ‘the fall of a God into generation’ (II. 192). a contemporary term for primitive lower man (II. 90-122. The idea of a “sparkless” creation.. red-haired-covered monsters. could serve theologies that sought to distinguish God’s chosen people from others. natural sciences and Theosophy at Vienna in the early 1900s. passim. A race of crooked. Monsters they bred. The Slav and Latin subjects of the large multinational empire were increasingly demanding political. He was especially preoccupied with the political ascendancy of the erstwhile subject nationalities of the Austro-Hungarian Empire. Sp. In the first concise presentation of his doctrine of “theo-zoology”.
. Daim.78
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but rather is the ‘Fall of Spirit into generation’ (I.

which threatened the sacred and legitimate authority of the Aryans throughout the world. udumi) being sent as tribute to the Assyrians. which came from the earth and had no soul. but harboured heretical ideas concerning the literally bestial nature of sin. baziati. Strabo and Pliny. Lanz had already assimilated contemporary academic work on anthropology and racial evolution. In 1903 Lanz published a long article ‘Anthropozoon biblicum’ in a periodical for biblical research. Lanz accordingly elaborated a theology in which the Fall denoted the racial compromise of the divine Aryans due to wicked interbreeding with lower animal species.
. Lanz’s work uses the discoveries of modern science to support his esoteric reading of scripture and culture.THE ESOTERIC USES OF ELECTRICITY
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Lanz had entered the Cistercian noviciate at Heiligenkreuz Abbey from 1893. institutionalized as satanic cults. the findings of modern archaeology. for which he received the Nobel Prize in 1901. where the Aryans were still most numerous. especially in Germany. 317-328. Lanz also took an informed interest in recent discoveries in the fields of electromagnetism and radiology. an idea suggested to him by a tombstone relief showing a knight treading on strange animal. Within a few years Wilhelm Röntgen had discovered Xrays. Reliefs excavated at Nimrud in 1848 by the British orientalist Sir Austen Henry Layard allegedly showed such beasts (pagatu. In 1905 Lanz published his fundamental statement of gnostic doctrine as Theozoologie oder die Kunde von den Sodoms-Äfflingen und dem Götterelektron. which again combined traditional Judaeo-Christian sources with the new life-sciences: hence theo-zoology. and substantial sections of the Old Testament corroborated this terrible practice of miscegenation24 . According to Lanz. From his analysis of mystery cults described by Herodotus. he left the order in 1899 and immersed himself in contemporary anthropological studies relating to the Aryan race. Following the work of Marconi and Hertz. Lanz concluded that the ancient civilisations had practised an orgiastic cult involving sexual intercourse with small beasts or pygmies. radio communication was developed between
24
Lanz-Liebenfels. 351-355. the writings of the ancients. led to the creation of several mixed races. Plutarch. VfB 1 (1903). Euhemerus. The first of these was the thermionic emission of electrons from hot bodies as observed by Blondlot and called N-rays in 1887. Convinced that Christianity had betrayed its original racial doctrines. The Curies had meanwhile discovered radioactivity in 1898. ‘Anthropozoon biblicum’. These persistent sins. subsequently isolating the source elements polonium and radium in 1902 and receiving the Nobel Prize. As a work of scientific occultism.

Lanz followed Arius in asserting that Christ was the Logos. Lanz substantiated this view with quotations from the Gospels. True religion in Lanz’s view consisted in endogamous cults of racial purity in order to maintain these divine powers and to counter the temptations of lecherous acts with the bestial apelings. Theozoologie. called Adam. formed by God from mere earth. Lanz identified Christ as one of the last god-men or an angel.80
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1898 and 1904. 113-122. It was at this point. which gave rise to the various species of apes in the world. These newly discovered forms of energy and communication were also adopted by Lanz in his esoteric anthropology25. Theozoologie. he enlivens and he kills. Lanz believed that these superior forms of life were gods26. He attributed to Theozoa extraordinary sensory organs for the reception and transmission of electrical signals. the Pistis Sophia and other Gnostic texts29. who came to redeem a fallen mankind from bestial miscegenation through a revival of the gnostic racial religion. 26 Lanz-Liebenfels. His first mention of radium-rays in ibid. pygmies and their crossbreeds. 85. 29 Lanz-Liebenfels. that Lanz introduced his own variety of electrotheology. The first section of Theozoologie presented the evil realm by examining the origin and nature of the pygmies. Theozoologie. Following Euhemerus and Saxo Grammaticus. By contrast.
Lanz’s first mention of N-rays in ‘Anthropozoon biblicum’. he heals and he makes ill’ 28. 75. the heathen deities of Israel were all throwbacks to the evil cults of bestiality. 28 Lanz-Liebenfels. a creature above all other creatures but not God. spawned a race of beast-men (Anthropozoa). The electrical nature of the Ark of the Covenant was evident. 2 (1904). Lanz also identified Christ as an electrical being. fire and lightning. 27 Lanz-Liebenfels. 8385. VfB 1 (1903).. Theozoologie. He discusses these theories in Theozoologie. The first pygmy. the God of Israel. was just such a prehistoric electrical being. 97. These organs bestowed powers of telepathy and omniscience upon the Theozoa 27. all descendants of the lower. Moving on to the New Testament. while ‘God has both properties of electrical rays. Impressed by recent scientific discoveries in electromagnetism and radioactivity. Lanz’s exegesis of the Old Testament led him to conclude that Jehovah. animal creation. Christ’s miracles and magical powers and the Transfiguration confirmed his electrical nature. Lanz saw electricity as a form of divine revelation and inspiration. 455n.
25
. 332. who regularly manifested as a cloud. in his description of the gods. Quite distinct in origin were the earlier and superior god-men (Theozoa).

he produced a series of doctrinal works on “electrotheology”. a neo-Templar order intended to revive Ariosophy through religious devotions supported by racialist liturgy and eugenic practice. there had developed several mixed races.
. were endowed with the spark of ensoulment or animation. 101. The entrapment of the divine electrical spark within racially inferior bodies transposes gnostic ideas into the modern discourse of electricity. of which the Aryans were the least corrupt. represented an acosmic principle of degradation. Although electricity was identified as a characteristic of divinity and divine powers. once Lanz had founded his Ordo Novi Templi (ONT) in 1907. dark and bestial antagonists. electricity seemed an opportunist assimilation of contemporary science to Lanz’s doctrine of a cosmic manichaean struggle between the divine. but the day will come when they arise once more’30. buttressed by citations from science journals. the attribution was typical of scientific occultism: a modern phenomenon was invoked. In his early text Theozoologie. blond Aryan race and their inferior. nor to its role in Creation and its evolution. gnostic entrapment and disorder. The marvellous electrical organs of the Theozoa had atrophied into the supposedly superfluous pituitary and pineal glands in modern man owing to miscegenation. Scant attention was given to the ontological status of electricity. the apelings and pygmies had sought to destroy the Aryans by dragging them down the evolutionary ladder by means of their promiscuity. the other dark races. the proto-Aryans or Gods on earth.THE ESOTERIC USES OF ELECTRICITY
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In place of the originally distinct species of Theozoa and apes. to which he added the comment that God was living. save for Lanz’s quotations from Deuteronomy 4:24 and Hebrews 12:29 which call God a consuming fire. Lanz-Liebenfels. which amplify and qualify his conception of electricity as a divine attribute and as sacraments within his reformed
30 31
Lanz-Liebenfels. ‘[The gods] once walked physically on earth. his racial religion also betrays gnostic features. physical anthropology and eugenics. However. to lend credence to a radical and unorthodox sectarian world-view. His dominant idea was that only the Theozoa. Besides Lanz’s citation of Gnostic sources. Throughout all recorded history. electrical “fire” 31 . Theozoologie. The history of religion recorded a constant struggle between the bestial and endogamous cults. descended from the earthmade Adam and having no electricity. Lanz claimed that a universal programme of segregation and breeding could restore these divine powers to the Aryans as the closest descendants of the god-men. Theozoologie. Today they live on in man. 91. The gods slumber in the racially degraded bodies of men.

another account made them the daughters of Zeus and the nixie Eyrynome. with the exception of No. Briefe an meine Freunde. Deploying some far-fetched etymology combined with wide-ranging excerpts from Classical mythology. ancestor and protector of the European. Buße und Krankenölung (Confirmation. Elektrotheologie des Sakraments der Ehe und Priesterweihe (Marriage and Orders). 1908. Theogony 976). Lanz claimed that the eucharist derived from the putative prehistoric practice of eugenic coupling of Aryan congregations with divine “electrotheonic” beings. 2-4). 44 (dated Szt. 1. Agape (pure love) was the offspring of Nereus and Doris (Homer. Balázs.
. Elektrotheologie des Sakraments der Taufe (Baptism).82
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“Ario-Christianity”. all the booklets. It is quite possible that Lanz backdated the works in order to spare himself difficulties with the authorities during the Third Reich. ario-heroic race (pp. A welter of improbable references supported Lanz’s claim. 44 to 47 in Lanz’s later “Lehrbriefe”. Elektrotheologie der Sakramente der Firmung. Iliad 18:92) or a daughter of Kadmos and the spouse of Echion. and Last Unction). Seven electrotheological works are extant. published from 1933 onwards under various series-titles (Ariomantische Briefe. 1930) carry a composition date of Burg Werfenstein. Penance. these booklets present a certain problem. comprising: Elektrotheologie von Ritus und Liturgie (Ritual and Liturgy) in two parts.
32
Lanz von Liebenfels. The word “eu-charist” literally meant “(the mystery) of the good Charity”: the Charities were also known as the Roman graces 32. 1 to 3. Teil. Elektrotheologie des Sakraments der Eucharistie. Messe und Gralsfeier contained a detailed discussion of the origins and nature of the Christian eucharist and mass. Geistwissenschaftliche Schriften). The Logos. Elektrotheologie des Sakraments der Eucharistie. Bibliographically. Lanz claimed. By means of these myths of divine couplings. Messe und Gralsfeier (Eucharist. was identical with the winged Hermes or Amor. who was himself a son of Hermes (the Logos) (Hesiod. Lanz further sought to show how the gods had consorted with humans. According to Greek mythology. The first four are numbered Nos. Similarly. Mass and Celebration of the Grail) in two parts. Elektrotheologie des Sakraments der Eucharistie I. the graces were the daughters of Helios (the nordic sun-god also identified with Baldur and Apollo) and the Hesperidean-Atlantean woman Aigle. while the last three have a separate numbering as Handschrift E Nos. Kadmon was the husband of Harmonia (Germania) and the brother of Europa. Luzerner Briefe. often represented as a “small angel” or “Amorette”. thereby the representative. Supposedly written at his newly-acquired ONT priory at Burg Werfenstein near Grein in 1908. However.

muses. no longer recalling the prehistoric presence of the “electrotheonic” beings in wall niches or ciboria. but interprets it to signify an ancient. Each year on Good Friday. The sacramental act of (sexual) communion was consummated under a tabernacle. Lanz showed how this once public act of eugenic regeneration with divinities on earth had since become obscured by the symbolic substitution of bread and wine. baldachin or tent-like canopy within full view of the other members of the congregation. Lanz identified these “electrotheonic” beings as the graces of the Romans and the valkyries of the ancient Germans. the heavenly dove comes to revivify the Grail with its rays. He asserts that “Grail” derives from the Latin cratalis or cratus.THE ESOTERIC USES OF ELECTRICITY
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thereby procreating a semi-divine descent that led to the Aryans or Germans in the present. ornate painted altars. all divinities who originally resided in special wall niches in the altar area of the churches. Lanz concludes that the Holy Grail is nought else but the electrotheonic angel. Differing accounts refer to the Grail as a stone. According to legend. ciborium. graces and valkyries. furthermore as angels. 5). valkyrie. It was also used by Joseph of Arimathea to catch the blood of Christ at his Crucifixion. small effigies of the Virgin replaced the actual presence of norns. 6). Wolfram von Eschenbach describes the Grail as “lapis electrix” in his work Parzival. 12). However. which Lanz derived from the word for “bridal bed” or “litter” (p. the patron saint of knight esquires. and winged grail doves. Lanz also recruits the symbol of the Holy Grail for his electrotheology. legends and myths. the eucharist is still kept in portable or fixed chests (“Armaria”) or “Pastophoria”. norns. However. 11). Monstrances imitating a radiant sun retained the memory of the electrotheonic grail dove and its surrounding gloriole (pp. It confers the highest knowledge and happiness both physically and spiritually. it heals the sick. gives eternal youth and beauty. which has been brought down from heaven by angels and which Christ used at the Last Supper. the host was kept in altar containers (tabernacles). Once the Baroque period witnessed the erection of enormous. light-elves. solemn oaths and loyalty to one’s own kind. sweet fragrance and energy. covertly prepared by the priest with his back to the congregation (p. electrotheonic pre-human being. according to Grail legend. the theonic charity or grace of early Christianity (p. cup and bowl. Wooden figures and statues substituted for the once living “Electrotheones”. meaning a cup. known as Panto-Krator in Graeco-Roman culture and as St. feeds and refreshes by virtue of its rays of light.
. 8-9. light-elf. the Grail is the most precious and marvellous thing on earth. Lanz detects its “electrotheonic” nature in several references. The Grail notably possesses all the miraculous powers which were otherwise attributed to the electrotheonic beings in old texts. Pancras.

This sacramental sacrifice of holy. ‘an unspeakably great and painful sacrifice upon the cross of lower matter and corporeality. Lanz speaks of a ‘divine. Whoso eateth my flesh. I am the bread of life . 2). so they shall return to God through the miraculous effect of pure love and eugenic breeding33. but also to transmute it creatively through the constant effect of bioelectric rays’.84
NICHOLAS GOODRICK-CLARKE
The ritual sexual intercourse between the “electrotheonic” norns. in order to enable the resurrection of a new. In describing this drama. 35 and 51 are likewise interpreted to mean that Christ offers his flesh and blood as a form of eugenic salvation: ‘Labour not for the meat which perisheth.. and drinketh my blood. ‘This is my body which is given for you’.. The verses of John 6:26. that is breeding. The electrotheonic beings merged with the blood and flesh of heroes in order to raise mankind to higher racial nobility. I am the living bread which came down from heaven . Messe und Gralsfeier. raise them up to the prehistoric status of angels and valkyries. the binding and transsubstantiation of sexual energies and transmutation of glands and hormones. but for that meat which endureth unto everlasting life . Just as the Aryans were once lost in body. who will be
33
Lanz von Liebenfels. hath eternal life’. Lanz views this sacrifice as the price of Aryan redemption from the karmic guilt of primeval orgiastic miscegenation and the expectation of the Kingdom of Heaven in the ‘bioelectric and theoelectric Age of Uranus’ (pp.. matter and sexuality. 14-15).. pure love’.. Quoting Mark 14:22 and Luke 22:19. 20. eat. which seems to jar with his sexual-eugenic interpretation of the ancient eucharist. And again: the “electrotheonic” nature of the eucharist offers ‘the means of purifying and perfecting the human race not only through generation. which led to the death of the angels and gods. Lanz recalls Christ’s sayings to his disciples at the Last Supper: ‘Take. this is my body’ and. spiritual love with the “electrotheonic” beings thus matched Christ’s act of sacrifice in the Crucifixion (p. so that pure-blooded Aryans may again become like the “electrotheonic” beings of prehistory. certain passages in Lanz’s electrotheology suggest an ascetic retreat from physical sexuality. again. Lanz uses a gnostic terminology of descent and extinction. Teil.. thereby conjuring up the ‘bioelectric Uranus man of the coming Aquarian Age’. Elektrotheologie des Sakraments der Eucharistie II. valkyries and angels and the ancient Aryan ancestors was a form of divine “sacrifice”. The gods descended to the level of men and matter in order to raise the racial stock from its racial degeneracy caused by interbreeding with beasts. This creative transmutation will transform humans into “electrotheonic” beings. divine heroic race of men’. In the second part of Elektrotheologie des Sakraments der Eucharistie.
. However.

once humans attained “electrotheonic” status. Lanz also discussed the possibility of fertilising female eggs through electromagnetism. By contrast. He quoted Matthew 22:30 that there was no marriage in the resurrection but that man and woman are angels of god in heaven. He regarded the laying on of hands and the anointment of the fingers by the presiding priest or bishop as a conductor for the od. 121. the sacrament of marriage is the sacrament of the physical conception of heirs. Lanz compared the sacrament of marriage with that of orders (ordination of clergy and consecration of bishops). angels. and female conception through a “heavenly beam”. or even a glance from the “electrical” Christ 34. Theozoologie.THE ESOTERIC USES OF ELECTRICITY
85
endowed with inconceivable knowledge and omnipotent magical and supernatural powers (p. the “electrotheonic” beings offer humans the possibility of transmuting themselves into higher states of grace. he anticipated a future in which sexual relations would play no part in human reproduction: man and woman had to become more alike. norns and valkyries are readily identifiable as intermediaries characteristic of imaginaries in Western esotericism. 153. whereby their sexual relations with humans will assist the evolution of Aryan mankind into superior and spiritual forms. 88. the propagation of an aristocracy of blood and spirit by means of an “electrotheonic” and creative transference of energy. Lanz articulates a modern biological form of esotericism. the ritual communion with heavenly intermediaries no longer took place at a carnal level but by means of reciprocal electromagnetic radiation between the partners. the propagation of a blood nobility. the sacrament of orders Lanz defined as the sacrament of the conception of spiritual heirs. Since Lanz regarded sexual passion as the chief cause of eugenic degradation. In a future eugenic paradise Lanz thought humans would no longer be conceived through carnal union but perhaps through radiation. whereby eugenics is described in sacramental terms of spiritual intermediaries and transmutation. the hypothetical force responsible for magnetism. Lanz’s extraordinary contribution to esotericism consists in his interpretation of these intermediaries in both a spiritual and carnal context. Located in special holy places within churches. One must imagine that. 32). These beings form a ladder of ascent to a higher spiritual gnosis. light and hypnotism discovered by Karl von
34
Lanz-Liebenfels. In the work Elektrotheologie des Sakraments der Ehe und Priesterweihe.
. loving each other more spiritually. Lanz’s “electrotheonic” beings. Bestowed by the priest but realised only in consummation. parthenogenesis. Lanz’s Aryan paradise would thus witness the universal practice of electrically immaculate conception. odyl or spiritual current.

inferior race and its idolatrous cults of bestial interbreeding. regarding it as the vehicle of cosmic ideation. but locates evil in the demonic. physical) descendants of these beings. For who else were the original Christian priests but the favourites. This electro-spiritual current of od. 14. Lanz sees Aryan man as a stranger in a hostile world of bestial lust. But Lanz does not see the cosmos or even the world itself as evil. whose blood has remained relatively pure. Their rule was challenged by the demonic clergy which fostered the cults of bestiality and racial mixing. whose task was to interpret their divine instructions? Lanz added that they were mostly the blood (i. Blavatsky also adopted electricity as an instrument of emanationism.
. Lanz adopts electricity to an elaborate scriptural exegesis. The Gnostic idea that the cosmos is a bad product of an evil demiurge has no place in the thought of the 18th-century Pietist electrical theologians. her ideas were theologically much less sophisticated that those of the Pietist theosophers who were concerned with scriptural interpretation. who articulated an emanationist cosmology and anthropology. As Roelof van den Broek
35
Lanz von Liebenfels. inherited over generations from the “electrotheonic” beings identifies and legitimises the “ario-heroic” priesthood as the authentic servants of God. Its presence throughout all Creation underlines the idea that the cosmos is good. Fricker and Oetinger is an instrument of the transcendent God to communicate an active. unbroken chain of priestly consecrating hands leading back to the “electrotheonic” light-elves and angels in ancient times 35. fair Aryans. which displays both Hermetic and Gnostic tendencies. These priests had not only profound. which has rendered the living gods extinct on earth. This sacrament streams into the new priest’s body through a closed. The “electrical fire” of Divisch. impressing forms in nature. and whose sway in the modern world is now all but universal.86
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Reichenbach (1788-1869). 15-16). She also regards electricity as the anima mundi and the “soul” in man.e. their confidantes and playmates. scientific and technical knowledge but also a magical power and authority. animating soul to matter. so that it may continue to unfold and evolve in accordance with His will. This comparison of theologies of electricity raises important questions concerning their Hermetic and Gnostic status. Elektrotheologie des Sakraments der Ehe und Priesterweihe. Only by returning to racial purity can the electrical spirit be regained and Aryan mankind redeemed (pp. The spark of their divinity survives only in the minority of blond. as they received more od through their dealings with the gods than the laity. servants and attendants of the “electrotheonic” angels. Her ideas of miscegenation in the third root-race carried overtones of a Gnostic separation from the divine. However. but in any case their spiritual sons.

The passions of the body and the allurements of the senses continuously threatened to pull the soul down to a state of deadness and obscured its awareness of its divine origin36. Conclusion The extent to which electricity has entered the corpus of esoteric speculation has been indicated in this article with reference to a small sample of writers. is one and the same!’37 4. not only living creatures. Already in the seventeenth century. ‘Gnosticism and Hermetism in Antiquity’. disorder and violence. as a trained Cisterician. If Lanz were a pure Gnostic he could never have celebrated the living presence of Theozoa in a former earthly paradise. Just as the author of Poimandres described man’s fall into nature as the origin of his dual nature. Oetinger saw this living nature as the basis of magic. Instead. it tends to support emanationist and non-dualist. and thereby filling the world with ugliness. Likewise. to be electric and divine. Oetinger saw electricity as the instrument of God. the other seeking sexual gratification and licence. As such. we will be electric. 11-12. responsive entity in accord with God’s design and containing its future development. his particular
36 37
Roelof van den Broek. 91. the Hermetist’s positive view of the cosmos did not imply that he was optimistic about the fate of the soul in its earthly existence. electricity readily performed its function as an animating principle. Given the influence of Mesmer in 19th-century occultism. Lanz von Liebenfels was the heir of such scientific occultism but. he articulates a manichaean world of opposing principles and species.
. were thus endowed with soul. All things. the one seeking purity and liberation from the senses. Lanz elaborates an ascetic Hermetism to show how man can regain his divine birthright and redeem the world: ‘The gods slumber in the bestialized human body. but the day will come when they arise again. Lanz-Liebenfels. introducing the animus mundi into matter at the very outset of Creation.THE ESOTERIC USES OF ELECTRICITY
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has shown in his comparison of Hermetism and Gnosticism in antiquity. electricity represented for Kircher a divine force in nature and even tended to displace more orthodox notions of an absolute. Theozoologie. Hermetic philosophies. Blavatsky adduced electricity as the animus mundi and a cosmogonic agent responsible for translating the ideas of the Universal Mind into the myriad forms of the manifested universe. We were electric. transcendent deity. animating force in esoteric cosmology and anthropology. so that the whole universe was a living. Electricity is primarily identified as an ensouling. He believed that the ancients and patriarchs had understood and known how to use this underlying connection and sympathy between all things.

ward the end of the 19th century. His compact text, presenting a wealth of names, dates, intellectual affiliations and titles, could by itself serve as the point of departure of a whole line of research into a little-known sector of European intellectual history. The mostly German currents represented in the second section range in time from Christian theosophy via Romantic philosophers and scientists to the writings of Rudolf Steiner and C.G. Jung. To cite just one example, Dietrich von Engelhardt’s article on the romantic chemist and phsyicist J.S.C. Schweigger affords the reader a glimpse into a world where it was assumed that the natural sciences could lead to an understanding of spiritual truths. Schweigger’s writings encompassed numerous empirical studies on various aspects of chemical technology, but also quasi-theological attempts to find correspondences between the movements of the heavenly bodies and chemical processes. Schweigger’s Romantic heritage is apparent not least in his approach to myth. Like Herder before him, he considered myth to be the poetic production characteristic of a specific people. As a natural scientist, he understood this poetic message to consist of thinly veiled references to chemical and physical processes. The twins Castor and Pollux of Greek mythology, he felt, referred to negative and positive electrical charges. Especially in the post-Enlightenment period, esoteric practices increasingly became institutionalized as movements. In the last two centuries a vast number of such religious (or at least religiously tinged) movements have been formed. The third section of the Festschrift concentrates on such movements, and by preference on older ones such as various Masonic orders, the Theosophical Society and the various Traditionalist currents. Contemporary esoteric movements are underrepresented, with a contribution by Jean-François Mayer on the Order of the Solar Temple being the only major exception. From Mayer’s text it is clear how different the scholarly traditions are that permeate the study of esotericism versus that of New Religious Movements. Whereas articles on the former tend to concentrate on the doctrines of the various currents, Mayer focuses on the social dynamics, and in this particular case on the apocalypticism and violence that came to characterize the Order of the Solar Temple. Under the perhaps somewhat opaque heading “Imagination, imaginaire et Imaginal” of the fourth section, one finds a set of contributions mostly dealing with the intersections between esotericism and various modes of artistic production. Here are papers on topics such as painting, literature, cinema and horticulture. An article on New Age literature by Frank Greiner surveys the themes that appear in esoterically colored mass-market fiction by authors such as Deepak Chopra, Paulo Coelho and James Redfield. The imaginative narra-

The simplicity and artlessness of these books would seem to be their very raison d’être. he published the first genuinely scholarly book on the subject under the near-pseudonym Tony Faivre. By far the best is Ivan Strenski’s article on the history of religious studies at the École Pratique des hautes Études. Richard Caron and Marco Pasi have compiled a massive bibliography of the works of Antoine Faivre. however. It is. suggested as one of several possibilities that these mysterious creatures were in fact caused by astral bodies. The last section is equally heterogeneous. Such books are symptomatic of the way in which the production and spread of religious innovations is no longer the prerogative of churches and creative individuals. 573) that New Age ideas still await expression by a truly gifted author seems completely warranted. After these five sections. Greiner’s aesthetic rather than sociological reading of the literature seems to prevent him from seriously engaging with a central aspect of contemporary popular religion. in Greiner’s analysis. Unfortunately. As the title of Massimo Introvigne’s paper “Antoine Faivre: Father of Contemporary Vampire Studies” suggests. theoretical and methodological questions.100
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tive that characterizes this fiction is. and largely consist of philosophical meditations. Some contributions elucidate the philosophical underpinnings of specific esoteric themes. the author’s conclusion (p. but has to a large extent been usurped by the market. The section on Imagination also contains articles on vampires. One of the most influential early authors on vampires. largely subservient to bringing across the doctrines of the authors. If this book is to be read as a survey of the field (rather than as an attempt to be a Festschrift faithful to the interests of its recipient). the book concludes with an appendix that is in itself the result of a formidable scholarly effort. The article also shows that there is indeed a connection between this field and that of Western esotericism. the esoteric references in Thomas Mann’s Zauberberg (the subject of an article in the present volume by Wouter Hanegraaff). In 1962. Nevertheless. The
. Dom Calmet (1672-1757). religionist reflections or wide-ranging but rather superficial comparisons. the reflective pieces are generally weaker than the more empirically-based papers elsewhere in this volume. also the one with the most tenuous connection to the topic of esotericism. Introvigne’s paper summarizes the history of vampire mythology in a format convenient for those approaching the subject for the first time. Yet others draw parallels with nonWestern and particularly Islamic esoteric traditions. these latter would seem to merit particular scrutiny. Others survey the careers of individual scholars in the field. a less well-known side to Faivre’s work is his pioneering study of modern vampire myths. When one compares the material Greiner has studied with e. A few articles broach meta-theoretical.g.

on television and in popular sciencefiction. it is this: most scholars are primarily interested in what people say they believe. In Localizing Strategies: Regional Traditions of Ethnographic Writing (1990). modernity.BOOK REVIEW SECTION
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sheer fact that such a compilation takes up 43 printed pages is a tribute to Faivre’s productivity and intellectual vigor. identity and personhood. If a statistical imbalance can nevertheless be discerned from the variety of approaches. ethnography without anthropology. but also for what it chooses to de-emphasize. anthropologist Richard Fardon and his co-authors illustrated how area studies tend to accumulate a tradition that in time gains the status of habitus: more or less unconscious dispositions toward a certain research practice that are simply part of the taken-for-granted. This contention is amply illustrated by the present volume. power. material culture. It is frequently remarked that the study of Western esotericism is a multidisciplinary academic field. The methodologies employed in the various articles encompass philological. embodiment. The contributions that do embrace the second set of questions reveal how fruitful such an avenue of inquiry can be. The reader of this volume comes away with a deeper understanding of esotericism as a vibrant part of Western culture. performance and rituals. whereas questions that deal with how they organize. 834) character-
. At a more general level. but far fewer references to any available theories and thinkers that might illuminate these data. iconographical and philosophical approaches. and syncretism – just to mention a few. symbols. Even landscape architecture has its place in the field. gender. mythmaking. what they do and in whose interests they act are secondary. If the study of Western esotericism is accurately portrayed in this volume. Time and again the reader of these contributions comes across striking instances of issues that have been the center of sustained attention in the humanities and social sciences: alterity. as will be evident to those who are familiar with the exuberant and playful art of Niki de SaintPhalle’s Tarot Garden. magic. Esotericism can be found in film and drama. a specific habitus would indeed seem to characterize the field. Jérôme Rousse-Lacordaire (p. Nevertheless. this approach illustrates the double nature of any area study. A book can be interesting not only for the wealth of material it includes. metaphorically speaking. globalization. even the seemingly editorialphilological matter of publishing and commenting on translations of the Corpus Hermeticum carried contentious political subtexts. Again and again one finds a wealth of fascinating data. literary. commercialism. It is. As shown in the article by Monica Neugebauer-Wölk. not merely as the counterculture that it sometimes is portrayed as. In his contribution. the often obvious relevance of the topic at hand to such more general scholarly concerns tends to remain on the level of covert intertextuality.

it promotes a model of historical scholarship in which the ideal of Rekonstruktion has been replaced by Konstruktion. Let me clarify this point. The aforementioned results are tightly argued. Von Stuckrad refuses to claim objectivity altogether (pp. At the same time. Secondly. Von Stuckrad failed to resolve some of its essential intricacies. his repeated claim that a different zodiacal sign rises above the horizon every two hours. even if this expertise is not always beyond reproach (for instance. I am not convinced that this will be the case for Von Stuckrad’s equally ambitious theoretical agenda. In my opinion.BOOK REVIEW SECTION
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legitimacy. the famous Astronomical Book in the Book of Enoch. astrological symbolism and practices in the Jewish communities of Qumran. A lengthy methodological introduction announces that this study offers no more than “hope” for future agreement and solidarity in the study of ancient astrology. More specifically.. For these reasons alone. and seem generally reliable. astrological components of Gnostic Christianity and Manicheism. is quite mistaken). This shift from epistemology towards morality is strongly indebted to the work of Richard Rorty. astrological passages in both the Babylonian and Palestinian Talmud. and where the pursuit of “historical truth” is given up for “the art of telling interesting stories” (pp. who links scientific status to moral values like patience. This has some interesting implications. Von Stuckrad is anxious to privilege historical sources and artefacts. it allows Von Stuckrad to revamp the study of religion into a “pragmatistische Religionswissenschaft” that strongly favours historical approaches. while supplementing it with new questions and a rare astrological expertise. and Christian astrological criticism (e. In fact. and a willingness to stake out knowledge claims through linguistic persuasion. apparently as a moral antidote against the spectre of trans-cultural au-
. the attitudes of Jewish historians like Philo of Alexandria or Josephus Flavius. Von Stuckrad’s technical command continues this tradition. The latter also enables him to supplement and/or criticize previous analyses of the same sources. However. Von Stuckrad’s book should become an essential point of reference for any future investigation of ancient astrology.g. Obviously. the account of Christ’s birth in Matthew 2. thereby restricting the scope of his historical conclusions. Von Stuckrad pushes this far beyond a promise that critics will not endure physical abuse. 57-58). and the Apocalypse of John. the author defends Rorty’s “pragmatic” and “ethnocentric” interpretation of truth as something that is constituted in local attempts to justify knowledge claims. and therefore strictly tied to a specific social and historical context. At the same time. curiosity. St Augustine’s City of God or the second council of Braga) and the political criminalization of astrology in the late Roman Empire. 54-55). this ambitious project stands on the shoulders of giants. First of all.

64). 100). he finds his answer in late twentieth-century astrological manuals. Disregarding the ancient historical record. by local political challenges? This tendency to shy away from full historicism also seems to underlie Von Stuckrad’s frequent invocation of historical discontinuities and “paradigms. is qualified as being not applicable to “certain people” (p. now stripped of its epistemological relevance. which enables us “to überhaupt think a non-causal astrology” (p. now between astral cults and astrological prediction. 60. still burdens the pragmatistic student of religion. This suggests that the tension between “reconstruction” and “construction”. he provides a standard narrative of the alliance between Christian theology and Roman politics. and simply asserts that these provide the proper key to understand ancient hermetics. Von Stuckrad derives further support for this commonplace interpretation from Bergson’s philosophy of time and Pauli’s interpretation of quantum mechanics. 71. note 145). The practical implications of this become clear as soon as Von Stuckrad attempts to define his topic: astrology. At least in this case. since many historians would happily go along with his disavowal of the ‘Grad ihrer Annäherung an die historische Wirklichkeit’.” Another fundamental distinction. How important were these people? In which context did they adopt or abolish this distinction? Von Stuckrad’s initial definition of astrology makes it virtually impossible to answer these questions. raises questions about the historical adequacy of this distinction between “internal” and “external. 64. or Pythagoreans (p. 533). if this only implied equal attention for the ‘Überzeugungsfähigkeit im wissenschaftlichen Diskurs unserer Zeit’ (p. but does not answer the most important question: to which extent were “theological” concerns informed. Astrology thus becomes a form of discourse that describes and predicts “time qualities” as “simultaneous phenomena” linked by “inherent symbols and meanings” (p. For instance.104
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tism (pp. his assertion that Jewish astrological discourse involved “internal” Judaic discussions on the one hand. and boundary work with respect to pagan religion on the other (p. rather than promoted. I strongly doubt that our ability to justify modern commonplaces about astrology is of much practical relevance to the identification of ancient views about astrology. 101). apologetics seem to dominate Von Stuckrad’s pursuit of history. 532). Turning to the Christian denunciation of astrology. Stoics. One may regret this.” Steven vanden Broecke
. A sustained historicism might also resolve certain problems in Von Stuckrad’s own discourse. 67).

it was certainly not Casaubon who killed him. Three years later Patrizi’s perspective was attacked by the humanist grammarian Teodoro Angelucci (a pupil of Genebrard).C.H. he argued that Hermes’ Egyptian name “Theut” or “Thoot” derived from the Flemish “’tHoot” or “het Hoot” (“the head”). published like Genebrard’s revised edition in 1580. and C. who believed that Flemish was the most ancient of all languages. he must have lived after the time of Alexander. once and for all demonstrate that if the “death of Hermes Trismegistus” ever took place at all.C. But Angelucci would not be silenced.BOOK REVIEW SECTION
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tions by Mulsow and a German translation of Anthony Grafton’s well-known 1983 article on Isaac Casaubon. In his Hieroglyphica. meaning God himself. and in his Exercitationes. and van Gorp. taken from the Calvinist chronographer Matthieu Beroalde’s Chronicum scripturae sacrae autoritate constitutum (1575): Hermes is mentioned only by authors who flourished after the fourth century B. Muti sought to refute Angelucci’s arguments by various counter-arguments.. but was defended by his younger friend Francesco Muti. References to Hermes should therefore be taken as references to God. Beroalde.. criticizing Aristotle from the prisca theologia perspective. he mounted a fullscale attack on the sort of ancient authorities quoted by Patrizi. and Angelucci repeated the arguments that had earlier been put forward by Genebrard. which obviously meant that Plato could not be a “hermetist”. Hermes mentions the Sybils. In the revised edition of his Chronographia (1580). in the period following the death of Aristotle. Genebrard kept to this dating but added more arguments. and argued that since Hermes wrote in Greek. Patrizi did not respond this time. but papyrus was not developed in Egypt before that same period. We learn from Purnell and Mulsow that as early as 1567 the Benedictine theologian Gilbert Genebrard (a pupil of the same Turnèbe whose edition of the Greek Corpus Hermeticum would later be used by Casaubon) criticized in his Chronographia those who saw Hermes as a contemporary or predecessor of Moses. The third and perhaps the most bizarre protagonist in the dating debate was the Flemish erudite Jean van Gorp (Goropius). instead. Among them was Hermes. Hermes was placed in the year 303 B. and abounding in references to Hermes Trismegistus. published in 1585. Iamblichus says that Hermes wrote on papyrus. XVIII mentions the 5th-century sculptor Phidias. Hermes now could be seen as ‘occupying a place in the history of Platonism’ (110). who flourished many centuries after the death of Moses. and a historical Hermes had never existed. Then in 1581 Francesco Patrizi published his Discussionum peripateticarum tomi IV. the writings attributed to him were dismissed as works of ‘heathen madness’. That Asclepius mentions Phidias puz-
. and still in the same year Patrizi responded with a vehement Apologia.

Persio found himself in a dilemma: although he was on close and friendly terms with both Patrizi and Muti. Casaubon is better seen as the closing and culminating protagonist in a debate that had started almost half a century earlier: no important new arguments were put forward after him. This must have upset him. the two letters are found bound together among Persio’s papers in the Biblioteca Cordiniana in Rome. for his part. which was not included in Ficino’s Pimander but had been translated independently by Lodovico Lazzarelli and first published by Symphorien Champier in 1507 (not – contra Muccillo p. far from having been the first to doubt Hermes’ great antiquity. and that it ‘raises the level of criticism of the works to a degree of acerbity hitherto unattained. This he pointed out in a response to Angelucci. What it gives us … is a frontal assault on the historical evidence supporting the Hermetic tradition. and in an important epilogue Mulsow discusses what he calls “the fast and the slow end of hermetism”. The explanation is simple: it occurs in C. and caused him to grudgingly reject C. The research of Purnell and Mulsow demonstrates clearly that. He does so by discussing four factors relevant to the Hermes-reception of the 17th and 18th centuries: the oft-neglected fact that philosophical and alchemical “hermetism” constitute two quite different cultural milieus that should not be conflated merely because they both refer to Hermes. the necessity of distinguishing
. XVIII: 1-10 as spurious.H. because he failed to find the reference in the latin Asclepius or in the Pimander. Having received it. and Angelucci got the impression that Persio took Muti’s side. again took up the debate in the prefaces to his translations of Greek Hermetica attached to his Nova de universis philosophia of 1591. he actually found himself in agreement with Genebrard. XVIII. Of course this does not mean that the influence of the Hermetic writings came to an abrupt end. and in the same year Angelucci happened to meet the philosopher Antonio Persio in a bookshop in Padua.H. the differences between the reception of (both kinds of) hermetism in elite and in popular culture. The contents of the letter are analyzed in detail by Purnell (130-143).110
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zled him most. Muti’s Disceptationum libri V contra columnias Theodori Angelutii appeared in 1588. who had died in 1500). Purnell points out that this letter is ‘the most extensive and thorough attack on the authenticity of the Hermetic tradition known from the sixteenth century’. The Phidias argument bothered him most. coupled with a wholesale condemnation of the moral and religious character of the Hermetica and the gullibity of those who have been misled by them’ (130). 66 nt 13 – by Lazzarelli himself. for having arrived home he sat down to write a long letter to Persio to explain in detail his position regarding Hermes. They drifted into a discussion about Muti’s tract. Patrizi. and Angelucci’s letter convinced him even more.

This fear would by no means be excessive. nor does she endeavor to defend the typical theosophical beliefs. Conway. The part of Divine Feminine dedicated to the early history of the TS is centered on Blavatsky. hysterical and sexually frustrated middle-aged woman but also an animal rights activist. In fact it was ridiculed. John S. of the University of British Columbia: ‘Historians – mostly men – have dismissed theosophy and the antics of its foundress. or the Masters of Wisdom. Cosmic Consciousness. Madame Blavatsky. but was in fact part of a self-conscious and highly interesting attempt at creating a feminist spirituality.
. It is also possible that feminist historians are afraid that to focus attention on the spiritual part of the history of feminism would make feminism lose its current political credibility and. and a devotee to Higher Thought. She was attacked fiercely by the Society for Physical Research (SPR). as a result. It was by studying these attempts to mock suffragettes that Joy Dixon discovered that the link between these spiritual movements and feminism did not only exist in the minds of critics. Perhaps feminist historians focus too much on the more instrumental aspects of 19th century feminism and are therefore simply less interested in the history in this more expressive side of the political culture of the woman’s movement. According to contemporary comic novelists. unworthy of serious attention’ (Newsletter Association of Contemporary Church Historians 7:11 [2001]. who became known as an enigmatic and controversial person. During further study Dixon soon became aware of the fact that in the historiography of 19th and early 20th century feminism little or no attention has been paid to the way feminist politics were linked to spirituality and religiosity. In Divine Feminine. It is not easy to explain why this is so. a suffragette was not only an unfashionable. This connection between theosophy and the quest of women for the right to vote did not remain unnoticed. Dixon does not elaborate on the origins of the lacuna in historiography she was confronted with. The result is a detailed portrait of the development of both the internal and external politics of the TS and its cultural and historical context. sexuality and race as categories were shaped and formed by the men and women participating in the TS. of course mostly by men who felt threatened by the wish of women to participate in public life. its nowadays sometimes still disputed place in mainstream political history. She instead offers an interesting and persuasive perspective on the theosophical movement in 19th century England and the construction of the feminist spiritual culture of which it was part. She does this by showing how gender. for example. as can be deduced from a statement of the editor of the Association of Contemporary Church Historians.112
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issues and debates considering the woman’s movement. 1). as a crackpot cult.

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In a report by this organization that attempted to investigate such debatable phenomena as mesmerism, spiritualism and occultism, Blavatsky was called one of the most accomplished, ingenious and interesting imposters in history. But, as Dixon shows, Blavatsky did not just passively undergo these insults. She in fact used them to construct her image in ways she considered fruitful for the TS. She represented herself as standing outside convention and carefully used both the fact that she was half Asiatic and that she was born a European to portray herself as a respectable embodiment of east and west. At the same time she moved back and forth between the roles traditionally associated with men and women. According to Dixon she made her womanhood a crucial part of her transgressive public persona: she claimed spiritual powers as a woman called Helena Blavatsky, and spiritual authority as a man, an authority she referred to when she used her initials HPB. After the death of Blavatsky, the TS changed and underwent a series of schisms. In England it became more and more an organization that resembled other late Victorian literary and scientific societies but it lacked academic credibility. Efforts were made to attain such credibility and to shape the TS even more according to the model of other clubs for the higher classes, most of which were gentlemen clubs. This attempt was accompanied by a shift in the way the TS defined itself. Many men in the TS began to explicitly speak of theosophy as masculine. Christianity was, according to them, precisely the opposite, namely weak and feminine. What Dixon calls the reconstitution of the TS in a scientific mode started with a separation of the theosophical principles from theosophical phenomena that were associated with Blavatsky, who had according to some members become a potential embarrassment because she had been exposed as a fraud by the SPR. The emergence of this scientific mode was answered by the foundation of the Blavatsky Lodge; this lodge was meant, as one of the founders stated, to rescue the TS from the dilettante class of high society men. Later the Esoteric Section (ES) of the TS was founded for the same reasons, but it claimed to be closer to the Mahatmas and their true wisdom and thus formed the inner circle of the Blavatsky Lodge. Within the ES, men and woman who claimed and believed that they were a direct link to the Mahatmas formed an Inner Circle of exclusive members. One of the “Inners” was Annie Besant, who had been appointed by Blavatsky as her successor and who also was one of the most prominent women of her days. Besant was well known in the public debate but had not lost her respectability or credibility as a womanly woman. She referred to the conventional image of a woman as the personification of truth and linked her spiritual authority to her Irish background, with reference to the idea of Ireland as an ancient land of sages, men of wisdom, and saints, just as Blavatsky had once referred to her

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Asiatic background. Again spiritual authority was linked to ethnic identities and gender. Because of this strategy, and the use of a slightly more conventional discourse, Besant was far less controversial then Blavatsky. However, her choice of representation and her emphasis on feeling within the TS brought with it that more and more women joined the TS – in the United States they even came to outnumber the men. Under Besant a new element in theosophy was introduced, namely the belief in the imminent coming of the World Teacher in the person of the young Brahman Jiddu Krishnamurti. This new direction, beginning in 1909, would eventually lead to innumerable pamphlet wars, schisms and secessions. Again the TS was changing. It engaged itself more in political activities. New headquarters were set up, reflecting a renewed belief in Theosophy’s public mission, and an idealism that would be tempered only with the outbreak of the First World War. But until the war, Indian nationalists, social reformers and feminists welcomed theosophy. Dixon offers a detailed description of the different kinds of feminism at the end of the 19th and the beginning of the 20th century and shows how for most feminists, not only those who were members of the TS, spirituality was a constructive element in their politics and ideals. There are, however, some questions that arise when reading Dixon’s analysis of the shifting role of class, race and gender representations in the discourse of both theosophists and feminists. One wonders whether the counterculture described by Dixon was really as consciously and carefully constructed as is suggested by her book. Was it, for example, a deliberate strategic choice of women like Blavatsky and Besant to present themselves as they did? Did they think the same way we nowadays think about discourse and representation? Does one not run the risk of attributing to these theosophists and feminists an almost postmodern perspective on identity? In a historical narrative there should be room for the unintentional and ironic sides of history. However, this is just a side remark. The most important fact is that Divine Feminine is very convincing and cleverly as well as beautifully written. Without a doubt Dixon’s erudite study is an essential contribution to the history of feminism, political history, and the history of spirituality. It is highly recommended for anyone who wants to know more about the cultural history of the late 19 th and early 20th century. Amanda Kluveld

Patai reads: ‘There are two sciences and two wisdoms: that of the Egyptians and that of the Hebrews. Lord of the Powers. Patai describes an Arab tradition. this is an implausible reconstruction. Révélation I. 6. More generally. FRASER
attests to this wider sphere of inﬂuence: Zosimos knows the book.’. Following the edition of Berthelot-Ruelle. However. while Zosimos does regard Jewish alchemy as a genuine initiatory tradition. 4 Patai. But this assertion is based on a faulty translation of the opening lines of The True Book of Sophe the Egyptian. he clearly identiﬁes himself as part of the Egyptian tradition. this source should be used with caution. His reverence for Maria and Jewish alchemy. according to which Zosimos was actually regarded as a Jewish author. Much better is Festugière’s suggestion (Révélation I. . which has transmitted important alchemical wisdom. and his interests in esoteric Judaism. R. 5 On the Letter Omega 9. See also note 6 infra. The writings of Zosimos express a high regard for the Jewish alchemical tradition. See also the edition of Jackson. as evidently does his Hermetic source. Zosimos of Panopolis. Jewish Alchemists. The reference to the two sciences is parenthetical. as edited by Festugière. It is in terms of this syncretic outlook—
3 The passages from the corpus of Zosimos relating to Maria are collected and discussed by Patai. 52). . He claims that the evidence does not permit us to determine whether this tradition is based on fact or fancy4. are best explained as reﬂecting the cosmopolitan outlook of an Alexandrian philosopher. 56. as distinct from the Jewish tradition: ‘Thus the ﬁrst man is called Thoth by us. In reality. that of the Egyptians and that of the Hebrews). appendix 1. and Adam by those peoples’5. it seems certain that Zosimos was not a Jew. 12). In short. 6 ‘Thus the Jews. along with their secrets of initiation . In one passage. to whom Zosimos appeals as his chief authority in questions of alchemical apparatus and technique3. Jewish Alchemists. we see the inﬂuence of gnostic currents connected to developments within—or on the fringes of—Late Antique Judaism. Alchimistes Grecs Tome 4. to which he himself belongs. Patai bases his translations directly on the French translation of Berthelot. Thus it is not surprising that Zosimos should refer to the Book of Enoch as sacred scripture. and that which is ‘more solid than divine justice’ is just the Book of Sophe itself. deposited the opportune tinctures in their subterranean chambers. Raphael Patai claims that for Zosimos ‘the Jews’ knowledge of alchemy was greater and more reliable than that of any other people. ch. imitating [the Egyptians] (hoi Ioudaioi autous mimêsamenoi). which latter is rendered more sound by divine justice’ (Patai. he also insists that it is derivative of the Egyptian tradition. 87-88.26-27. Sabaoth (for there are two sciences and two wisdoms. note 2). Final Quittance 5. in particular for Maria. which in turn is based on the often unreliable Greek text established by Ruelle. On the Letter Omega. in Mertens. Elsewhere he speaks of Jewish alchemists as imitators of Egyptian alchemy6. is more solid than divine justice’. which Patai evidently does not know: ‘The true book of Sophe the Egyptian and the God of the Hebrews. 261. Jewish Alchemists. Though the Greek is admittedly tortuous.126
KYLE A.
. and seems to endorse its teachings. 363-368. including even the Egyptians’ (p.

And Azazel taught men to make swords. and they taught them charms and enchantments (7. Although this is an interpretation. and they began to go in unto them and to deﬁle themselves with them. the reference to Hermes—though impossible in a strictly Jewish context—makes sense within an Egyptian-Hermetic perspective that is appropriating Jewish materials.8. . which he regards as having an essential afﬁnity to the “physical” teachings of the Egyptian sage Hermes Trismegistus. . . 56) argue. . n. 9 However. E. In the same syncretic spirit he makes the fabulous claim that Hermes was sent by the high priest of Jerusalem to translate the Hebrew scriptures into Greek and Egyptian—a claim that would be impossible within a strictly Jewish context7. And all the others together with them took unto themselves wives . revealed the arts and sciences to humans:
And it came to pass when the children of men had multiplied that in those days were born unto them beautiful and comely daughters. . and their cry went up to heaven (8. Old Testament Pseudepigrapha. Isaac. . saw and lusted after them (1 Enoch 6. And as men perished. . and knives . Kokabel the constellations . the occult sciences—magic. all coloring tinctures and alchemy’ (Charlesworth.2) might well have signaled to Zosimos that alchemy is implied10. in a more recent translation. Apocrypha and Pseudepigrapha. n. .
In exchange for their revelations. 268 n. and divination—are front and center. the reference to ‘tincturing’ (1 Enoch 8. R. 191-193.1-3) . . . 10 The Greek Enochian fragments actually use the expression ta baphika. 42) and Mertens (Alchimistes Grecs Tome 4.
7 On the Letter Omega 8. trans. . 5). in id. they cried. . as Jackson (Zosimos of Panoplis.82-86 (Mertens). . According to the Enochian account. . There is no explicit mention of alchemy9. .1-4). with note 8 [d]).1-2) . called the Watchers. the lustful angels had intercourse with human women and bred through them a race of giants. interprets this expression as a reference to alchemy: ‘And Azaz’el taught the people .H. .ALCHEMY AS FORBIDDEN KNOWLEDGE
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this conﬁdence in the esoteric unity of all ancient traditions—that we should understand Zosimos’s appeal to the Book of Enoch. And the angels. 16. 8 Book of Enoch. However. . one Ethiopic manuscript adds.. which from the author’s point of view has reached epidemic proportions in his own time.2. Festugière emended Hermên (‘Hermes’) to hermênea. and made known to them the metals of the earth and the art of working them . In the catalogue of the various forms of knowledge revealed to nascent humanity. the children of the heaven. . . ‘transmutation of the world’ after the reference to ‘tinctures’ at 1 Enoch 8. 48. it is not implausible in the context. Charles. astrology. Shamsiel the signs of the sun . Araquiel the signs of the earth. The Book of Enoch recounts this forbidden exchange of sex for wisdom with a view to explaining the origins of human sinfulness. Baraqijal (taught) astrology. ‘interpreter’ (Révélation I.
. . 5. However. and all kinds of costly stones. ‘colouring tinctures’. a race of fallen angels. and all colouring tinctures .

From his perspective. It translates an arabic word. which is related to the verb for “smelting” (choaneuein).
which accords perfectly with the alchemical sense of tincturing as baptism. The related word Chêmeia. and it represents symbolically one of its chief concepts—prime matter. as Lindsay observes (o. 69). Chêmeia is.c. kimiya: they derive it either from Chêmia. 68ff.128
KYLE A. Révélation I. they call Egypt. a combination of the article al and a substantive kimiya. recorded the revelations of the angels in the Book of Chêmes. Scholars have proposed two main alternatives as to the origins of the arabic word. the Greek word for Egypt or the “Black-land” (Egyptian. or from the Greek chûma. 218. the black substrate of alchemical transmutation12. the art related to Chêmia. 11 For a full discussion of the possible etymology see Lindsay. mageia. Chêmia . alkimiya. of course. Origins of Alchemy. a ‘baptism’. For the connection of the Greek word Chêmia to the Egyptian Kmt see Plutarch.
The word “alchemy” is. 364c6-8 (trans. The idea of “blackearth” has a twofold signiﬁcance: it points us to the presumed Egyptian origin of the Art. Zosimos links Chêmeia with a mythical ﬁgure named Chêmes. Their initial transmission about these arts came from Chêmes. would no doubt have seemed like a reference to alchemy. the angels] the giants were born. Our Zosimos fragment lends weight to the ﬁrst alternative: the sacred science is Chêmeia. which denote arts or occupations (e.’. He called this book the Book of Chêmes. Révélation I. Chêmeia is the distinctive art connected to Chêmia. See Festugière. the very essence of this angelic revelation. Adding his own fanciful etymological touch.g. On Isis and Osiris. unknown to the Greek alchemists. a process which he interprets as a puriﬁcation. Presumably. . This giant. for Zosimos. since it is mostly black. then.. as the art of the magos). this Enochian reference to ‘tincturing’. as he goes on to explain in the Synkellos quotation:
These same scriptures also say that from them [sc. 2. whence the art is called Chêmeia (Ecloga. Kmt). 223. the Egyptian “black-earth”11. Chêmeia. Gwyn Grifﬁths): ‘Again. FRASER
For Zosimos. in which form they were transmitted to the earliest alchemical initiates. which occurs in close proximity to a catalogue of occult sciences. . as we shall see later. J. who is evidently one of the gigantic offspring of the fallen angels and their human wives. alchemy is fundamentally concerned with the tincturing of base metals. Zosimos appropriates the Enochian story and expands it into an explicit account of the origins of his own sacred art. In this way.
. belongs to a series of words terminating in -eia. 14. 12 For this point see Festugière. he tells us. Indeed. 11-14). nt.

ch.ALCHEMY AS FORBIDDEN KNOWLEDGE
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The Book of Enoch views the occult sciences and technology in general as responsible for the moral corruption of humanity: ‘And the whole earth has been corrupted through the works that were taught by Azazel: to him ascribe all sin’ (1 Enoch 10. just as heaven to their angels’14. 65. who engaged in secret diabolical rites. Clearly the implication is that divine knowledge should be kept secret—reserved for the righteous—since it is dangerous in the wrong hands. in the Roman legal discourse. Tertullian. von Stuckrad argues. H. 1. Roman law was highly unfavourable to the occult sciences—with the obvious exception of ofﬁcial cult practices.11-15 (ed. see p. Contra Celsum. vol.
. Tertullian. 15 Tacitus. Bk. 149.D. unsanctioned by the ofﬁcial state religion16. ‘Magic in Roman Civil Discourse’. Moreover. embracing and reinforcing their alien status in the Empire. In the face of such criticism. trans. This assessment was widely inﬂuential. On the Apparel of Women. depending on their social status. for one. even improvising a clever analogy between the fall of the lustful angels and the historical “fall” of certain magicians and astrologers who were persecuted and driven out of Rome: ‘The astrologers are expelled just like their angels. especially for the early Church Fathers. were anxious
13 However. Ante-Nicene Fathers. 68 (trans. 14-16.2). takes up the Enochian story with enthusiasm. Under the Lex Cornelia. on secrecy. the Christians refused to participate in the ofﬁcial Roman cults. 150ff. such as haruspicium. Annalium 32. ought we to think them sons of God? Or ought we to say that they are the practices of wicked men possessed by an evil daimon?’17. as K. like Celsus. like Tertullian. which Enoch is charged to pass on secretly to his descendants. 3. ch. in Thelwall. see p. On Idolatry. vol. 14 Tertullian. Cf. in Thelwall. ‘The departure of magic from ofﬁcial religion came about precisely because of the practice of secrecy. Tacitus speaks of the death penalty for magicians as an ‘ancient custom’15. Thus the early Christians were commonly regarded by educated Romans. 6. 155). magicians were to be publicly burnt. Ante-Nicene Fathers. was construed as the practice of private or clandestine religious rites. the claims of the Christians themselves to heal the sick and exorcise daimons were adduced as evidence of sorcery and diabolism: ‘Since these men do these wonders.8-9)13. 1 Enoch does not regard knowledge as such as the root of evil. the early Fathers. 16 For a close examination of magic as “illicit religion” see Kippenberg. that turned an ofﬁcial religious ritual into a magical one’ (p. Fisher). as magicians. Suspicion of “magic”. or exiled. The revelation of the fallen angels (1 Enoch 6-11) stands in sharp contrast to the revelations of the holy angel Uriel (1 Enoch 7282). but the revelation of divine knowledge to those who are unﬁt and unprepared to receive it (Das Ringen um die Astrologie. C. On the Pauli Sententiae. The city and Italy are interdicted to the astrologers. as interpreted through the Pauli Sententiae (3rd century CE). 4. After all. Chadwick). section 1. 17 Origen (quoting Celsus).

The theurgists believe that they are attaining unity with angels and gods. These accusations of illicit religious practices—“magic” in its rhetorical and polemical usage—worked both ways. Augustine’s position makes use of material drawn from Porphyry’s criticism of theurgy. Theurgy and the Soul.
18 19
. or illicit and licit religious practices. when in fact they are unwittingly sacriﬁcing to evil daimons. in his City of God. disguised as angels (sub nominibus angelorum)18. ed. Theurgy and the Soul. the Christians were able to deploy the same rhetorical categories in their persecution of the pagan cults. he distinguishes theurgy from the animation of statues. from the acts of magicians. des Places). allowing Augustine to employ a divide and conquer strategy. Like Augustine. which derived their efﬁcacy from the name of Christ. Porphyry accuses the theurgists of attempting to manipulate and entice the gods with incantations and sacriﬁcial vapours. For further discussion see especially Shaw. How then can divine theurgy be clearly and safely distinguished from daimonic magic? Iamblichus’s response to Porphyry. The rhetorical oppositions between theurgy and magic.
City of God X. For further discussion see Shaw. a view which Zosimos also holds—and with great anxiety—but which Iamblichus rejects (see note 36 infra). whereas magic attempts to draw the gods to us. which is also effected through magical artiﬁce (technikôs 170. natural receptacles. are operative within Neoplatonism itself. De Mysteriis 160. In On the Abstinence of Animal Food he goes further: the true objects of blood sacriﬁces are daimons.3. 38-39. through which to contain and manipulate divine powers20.9 (Trans. Likewise. like idols. St. works largely within the same polemical categories: theurgy raises us to the gods. whereas magic constructs artiﬁcial receptacles. Ironically. Magic—that is to say non-Christian ritual—is for Augustine linked to the inﬂuence of hostile daimonic powers. Porphyry implies that theurgists are confused about the nature of the gods. are fraudulent (ritibus fallacibus). 129ff. since they seem to hold that immaterial gods are attracted by material sacriﬁces (Iamblichus. disguised as divinities. 211. eventually outlawing them altogether. as in the Book of Enoch. In his Letter to Anebo. ed.15-18. He holds that the pneumatic bodies of daimons are replenished by the sacriﬁcial smoke.9). 20 Iamblichus distinguishes sacred visions attained through theurgy from the residual phantasms artiﬁcially produced through sorcery (apo tês goêteias technichôs. FRASER
to distinguish the acts of Christians. Porphyry worries that the true objects of theurgic rites may be daimons disguised as divinities19. Wiesen). theurgy invokes the gods through the appropriate. though it sheds much light on the character of theurgy. which were allegedly effected through the agency of daimons. he says.130
KYLE A. De Mysteriis.19-212. rejects the attempts of the Neoplatonists to distinguish between theurgy and magic. David S. des Places). The rites of theurgy. Augustine. Once Christianity became the ofﬁcial state religion.

evident also in the Book of Enoch.’ (‘Theories of Magic in Antiquity’. On the Letter Omega and the Final Quittance. is liberation of the spiritual part of the human from the bonds of matter and Fate—from the clutches of the archons and their daimons. the charge of “magic” was part of a rhetorical strategy employed by Christians. those pagan gods who have now been unveiled as evil demons and who either are or are not identical with the fallen angels of Jewish tradition . The other way of distinguishing magic from religion. According to this gnostic daimonology. The goal of alchemy. which Graf associates especially with Plotinus. Is the Synkellos fragment consistent with the surviving works of Zosimos? How can such a negative view of the origins of alchemy be reconciled with its status as a divine art? I shall argue that the fragment is intelligible when interpreted within the wider context of Zosimos’s works on alchemy. works through the wrong powers. What is perhaps more difﬁcult to understand is the fact that some alchemists. . . were also sympathetic to this account. stresses intentionality and the manipulation of natural bonds of sympathy and antipathy (o. for Zosimos. is the notion that magic. It allows him to legitimate the Christian religion in contradistinction to other “false” or “illicit” religions. 104).c. through daimons or fallen angels. to the ultimate enslavement and destruction of the magician21. only that it implies a simi-
. sometimes against one another and sometimes against rival factions or schools within their own religious traditions. My suggestion here is not that alchemy is identical to this Chaldean theurgy. 22 Of course.. Seen in this context. rooted in Gnosticism. or wish them away: as a form of “theurgy”22. and potential persecutors. In two of his more theoretical works. alchemy cannot simply ignore these forces. Zosimos develops a distinctive daimonology. with particular emphasis on Zosimos.ALCHEMY AS FORBIDDEN KNOWLEDGE
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In short. which seemed to play so neatly into the hands of their detractors. wittingly or unwittingly. including Zosimos. which were further developed by Iamblichus and his followers.
21 Fritz Graf identiﬁes this topos as one of two prevailing strategies for deﬁning “magic” in a monotheistic context: ‘One [way] is to assume that the sorcerers make use of negative superhuman beings which coexist with God. These archons and their daimonic servants are intent on maintaining the ignorance and enslavement of fallen humanity. the daimons who inhabit the upper regions of the world are the earthly ministers of the planetary rulers—the gnostic archons—who determine the Fate of the individual and of the whole physical cosmos. One important aspect of this polemical use of the category “magic”. 100-104). It is the main purpose of this paper to explore the alchemical appropriation of the Enochian story. However. Hellenes and Jews alike. Tertullian’s appropriation of the Enochian story makes good rhetorical sense. “theurgy” in the strict sense refers speciﬁcally to the ritual practices of the Chaldean Oracles. alchemy works directly with material substances.

. 47). one aimed at the material ends of transmutation. . the other a means of salvation. Likwise. Consider the Source: Angels. without falling prey to the daimonic and astrologic forces which rule over it? There is a danger that the alchemist may become obsessed with the material ends of the art. Iamblichus.
lar valuation of the material world and its ritual utility. He was quickly on the verge of attaining his end. and the necessary revolution of the heavenly sphere. 2. he said that he was not permitted to disclose it. as Zosimos understands it. but I did not yield. Does the alchemist require the assistance of these daimons and the observance of astrologically propitious times? Or does alchemy proceed entirely on natural principles? In working through these problems Zosimos articulates a distinction between two kinds of alchemy: one profane. would come . has a more positive view of the daimons (for further discussion see Shaw. was ﬁlled with the desire to unite with me in intercourse. alchemy. by contrast. Thus he too deploys the rhetorical categories of licit and illicit religion. wishing to inquire of him as to the preparation of gold and silver.132
KYLE A. Isis recounts to Horos the details of her initiation into the alchemical mysteries by Amnael. . were potential medicines for a soul diseased by its body. angel of the sun:
In accordance with the opportune celestial moments (tôn kairôn). Alchemy works through the world—a world ruled by hostile daimonic powers. and his reasons for appropriating the Enochian story turn out not to be so different from Tertullian’s: both employ the Enochian myth to legitimate their religious and ritual practices. and the cure for a somatic ﬁxation in this theurgic homeopathy was the tail of the (daimonic) dog which bound it’ (Theurgy and the Soul. In this pseudonymous tract. . works through matter to rise above matter. on the theurgic view ‘[e]ven the densest aspects of matter . the other sacred. having seen me from above. This ritual engagement with matter involves a degree of tension given Zosimos’s concerns about the daimons and archons who rule over the material world. Amnael. then. one utterly enslaved to daimons. it came to pass that a certain one of the angels who dwell in the ﬁrst ﬁrmament. As Shaw argues. but that on the following day a superior angel. the other aimed at a spiritual “baptism”. How. Zosimos joins Enoch in condemning profane alchemy. 130ff). does the alchemist engage with matter. or Demons in Disguise? Scholars have long noted a connection between the Book of Enoch and the Graeco-Egyptian alchemical tract Isis the Prophetess to her son Horos. on account of the exalted character of the mysteries. in distinction from their spiritual competitors. FRASER
and seeks salvation through a spiritual regeneration of matter.
. When I asked this of him. while insisting on the integrity of the true Hermetic Art. seduced by the daimons and their false promises.

which are implicated in the production of silver and gold respectively. The language of “mastery” (epikratein. “Demokritos” tells of the discovery of a secret book. The tension between the erotic or “sympathetic” intentions of Amnael and the antipathetic resistance of Isis is a crucial. nature conquers nature. when the sun reached the middle of its course. which only the appropriate and superior angel can reveal.ALCHEMY AS FORBIDDEN KNOWLEDGE
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The next day. 256r. but mastered (epekratoun) his passion until he showed the sign on his head and revealed the mysteries I sought. quoted later in the tract: ‘For nature rejoices in nature. vol. which reads in full: ‘Nature rejoices in nature. one may reasonably speculate that the lunar angel is inadequate to the higher mystery of gold. or cannot. Collection des Anciens Alchimistes Grecs. namely the solar angel. Note the analogy between the notion of nature dominating (kratei) nature. As the moon is associated with the making of silver. the very mysteries which Isis is anxious to acquire.20-21). Variants of this maxim appear throughout the alchemic corpus. 41-53. when the sun is at its highest power.e. The connection to the Book of Enoch is discussed brieﬂy by Festugière. but hastened to where I was. Amnael. This angel. and Isis’s mastery (epikratein) of Amnael’s passion. 29. or opportune astrological moments. II. truthfully and without reservation (Berthelot p. vol. The question as to what extent alchemical procedures are dependent upon these kairoi. and with the astrologic conception of “opportune times” as deﬁned by the positions of the planets relative to one another and to the signs of the zodiac. Taken with the same passion for me he did not delay. the moon. is also of central interest for Zosimos. The text established by Ruelle is based on Paris 2327 f. When he delayed incessantly. concealed by his master Ostanes in a temple column. appeared and descended. II. and nature conquers nature’ (30. the angel of the “ﬁrst ﬁrmament”. the superior angel. Bolos of Mendes). as we shall see. In this book the famous maxim was revealed. though subtle aspect of the account. Isis must resist his advances—master his passion—until he offers up the secrets promised. I did not give myself over to him. 255-256. descends on Isis. 16-23)23. 29. edited in Berthelot. In this tractate. nature dominates (kratei) nature’ (43. The angels in the Isis tractate represent. The suggestion seems to
23 For the Greek text of this tract see Berthelot. collated with variant readings from Paris 2250 f. but his advances are rejected. Révélation I.18-19)24. with the same lustful agenda as his lunar predecessor. descends at the meridian. 217r. reveal the mysteries of gold and silver. more precisely. as he will not. Collection des Anciens Alchimistes Grecs. the sympathetic astral forces of the moon and the sun. First.20) suggests the famous maxim of Pseudo-Demokritos. At the start of the work she must cause dissonant sub-
.
These lustful angels are associated with the heavenly spheres. 28-33. The alchemist must balance natural sympathies and antipathies. But I was no less anxious to inquire after these matters.2-11. 24 See the Physika kai Mystika of Pseudo-Demokritos (i. Amnael.

. Hermès Trismégiste. F. However. and this administration Hermes called Fate (tautên de tên dioikêsin Hermês heimarmenên ekalesen) (XVI. like Plutarch.134
KYLE A. the idea of mediating daimons is central. for instance. or prime matter. . As the philosophical conception of the divine becomes increasingly transcendent. however.
In the Platonic-Stoic syntheses of Late Antiquity. the idea of intermediate daimons provides a means of reconciling mythic and cultic perspectives on the divine. They accomplish the whole of this earthly administration through the instrument of our bodies. Their descent from the planetary spheres in which they properly reside can be taken in two very different senses. . whitening and yellowing. this descent signals the mediating role of the angel or daimon as an earthly conduit for planetary inﬂuences. The daimons execute all of the earthly functions of the gods: they animate statues. then there is a process of differentiation. FRASER
be that the alchemist must have dealings with daimonic or angelic powers that are sympathetic to the Work and necessary to its “opportune” execution. In another way. expressed through the successive stages of “tincturing”. The descent of the angels in our Isis tractate can be interpreted in just this way.C. sulphur and vinegar. II. XVI. This dissolution is effected through the application of reagents like mercury. trans. 13. Once the “black” mixture has been attained. a view clearly expressed. in Plutarch’s Moralia. On the one hand.22-25). responsible in particular for maintaining the gene-
stances to coalesce in the primordial mixture. i. Indeed these angelic forces are of a dubious character. 16)25.H. For later Platonists. 15) . Corpus Hermeticum vol. this harmonization or blending is also a dissolution of the distinct natures of the various substances. Babbit. 25 I follow the Greek text established by Nock & Festugière. with more transcendent philosophical conceptions. their reduction to primordial “blackness”. the need for hierarchy and mediation increases accordingly. and oversee theurgic rites26. in tractate XVI of the Corpus Hermeticum:
When each of us has been born and ensouled the daimons that are responsible for the administration of birth at that moment take charge of us—the daimons which are ordered under each of the planets (C. of which Hermetic philosophy is one current. as administrators of Fate. De Defectu Oraculorum. ch.e. and yet these powers must for some reason be held at bay. It is this harmony of the natures that Ostanes failed to reveal to “Demokritos” before his death (42. 26 See Plutarch. and mastered— prevented from overwhelming the work. It was a common philosophical view in the time of Zosimos that daimons are the earthly administers of Fate or heimarmenê. provide oracular guidance. as the execution of the cosmic function of mediation.

paradoxically. and this constitutes an important divergence from the Enochian model. Consequently. takes on an explicitly redemptive character. Les Mystères d’Égypte): ‘It is necessary to reserve for daimons the generative powers. Gwyn Grifﬁths). There is certainly no indication of a moral judgment. but an aberration and a perversion.15-18 (des Places. These angels are the guardians of esoteric truths. It seems. Yet. are moved by appetite. but their sympathetic attraction to the Work takes the form of carnal lust. in line with the spiritual aims of the mystery schools and the Gnostic and Hermetic initiatory traditions. the daimons seem to constitute our link to the divine. Isis for her part seems not to be bothered by the lustful motivation of her angelic teacher. have a share of divinity. which govern nature and the connection of souls to bodies’ (tou sundesmou tôn psychôn eis ta sômata). forces sympathetically aligned to the Work of silver and gold. capable of perceiving pleasure and pain. he concedes that his own sacred art. are ‘evil and of no advantage to the soul’ (Synkellos. 28 Plutarch. For Zosimos. J. as conceived by Zosimos. 67. He seems to agree with the condemnation of Enoch: the arts which these angels revealed to humans. they can be regarded as responsible for the incarnation of our souls. and are capable of both good and evil28. the cosmic role of the daimons is often regarded with an air of menace. like humans. bridging the distance between the earthly and the heavenly.ALCHEMY AS FORBIDDEN KNOWLEDGE
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siurgic link between souls and bodies27. the moral implications of the Enochian account. the daimons.10-11). If we look to the actual motivation of the angels. viewed in a negative light. Whether such a conception is already implicit in the earlier Isis tract is arguable. Alchemy. De Mysteriis. he says. Viewed in a positive light. Plutarch explains that the daimons. Chêmeia. in other words. are impossible to ignore. there is no explicit reference to the spiritual ends of
27 See Iamblichus. and so for maintaining our enslavement to materiality and Fate. especially in the Gnostic systems. and the forbidden nature of the angelic lust. Amnael. as intermediate beings. with its emphatic condemnation of the angels. was the fruit of this forbidden union. This ambivalence about the moral character and motivation of daimons is reﬂected in the Isis tractate.
. to constitute a “fall” in the Enochian sense. however. On Isis and Osiris. but their divine nature is conjoined with a soul and a body. 14. their descent from the spheres seems not to represent a normal cosmic function at all. 360d13-e23 (trans. but for all of its talk of initiation and esoteric truths. which moves them to depart from their proper seats in the celestial ﬁrmament.

According to the account of the spiritual Anthropos in the Hermetic Poimandres. His fall begins when he takes on the powers of the archons. For they were in love (Poimandres 14)30. The lustful angels of the Book of Enoch and the Isis tractate seem to represent the spiritual fall into matter which it is the goal of the alchemic art
29 30
He seems to refer to this work at the close of The Final Quittance: see below pp. The result is his enslavement in the world of fatality. are themselves subject to the very carnal desires that alchemy seeks to overcome. For the Greek text see Nock & Festugière. or solar potentiality of matter. creator of the Demiurgic Nous and the Anthropos. containing all of the powers of the universe. the spiritual interpretation is front and center: the goal of alchemy is the liberation of the spiritual Adam from the bonds of carnality imposed upon Him by the rulers of the sublunary world. The Anthropos is thus conceived as the very brother of the Demiurge. The daimons or angels. FRASER
alchemy. and superior to them in dignity. having received the object of her love. the idea of the daimonic origins of alchemy becomes a deep problem. The lustful fall of the Anthropos has resulted in the scattering of the divine Light in matter. Nature. indeed these beings are the very type of a spiritual being which has fallen into material embodiment.136
KYLE A. prior to the seven planetary archons. 18-19. He breaks through the heavenly spheres into the sublunary world. the Anthropos is inspired to try his own hand at creation. There is in this account both a positive sense of the dignity of the Anthropos as microcosm. originating from the inﬂuence of the archons. Corpus Hermeticum Tome I. As a result of absorbing their demiurgic powers. Nature]. He sees his beautiful form reﬂected in Nature and is drawn into her embrace:
The Anthropos. the gnostic archons. engulfed him utterly and they mingled in passion. the “shepherd”. by contrast. a work evidently familiar to Zosimos29. and he came to dwell in form devoid of reason. and an intimation of the dangers of pride and self-love. the fall into matter is precipitated by lust. Poimandres. Immediately his wish was made actual. fell in love and desired to make a home there. and it is the goal of alchemy to remedy this fall. is the ﬁrst Nous. where he falls victim to a form of narcissism. Hermès Trismégiste. Within this spiritual interpretation. nor to any deeper meaning attaching to the production of silver and gold.
. For Zosimos. by drawing out the hidden Light. seeing a resemblance of his form in her [sc. who reveal the liberating gnôsis to Isis.
The account points to lust and pride as fatal defects in the Anthropos.

Clearly gnôsis is required precisely because humanity is fallen. Alchimistes Grecs Tome IV. which has not survived in the manuscripts31. Also useful is Jackson. the optimistic and pessimistic (or “monistic” and “dualistic”) attitudes to the material world should be understood as reﬂecting different stages in the soul’s ascent to the divine (see Fowden. of which Omega is evidently the introduction. However. and there are many other allusions in the Hermetic corpus to the negative features of embodiment. it is misleading to suggest that they offer an “optimistic” conception of gnôsis. This archontic Gnosticism. and requires salvation. The Greek text of On the Letter Omega is preserved only in the second recension of Marcianus 299. 23-25). we shall ﬁnd that the dualistic tendencies in Zosimos. On the other hand. and of the roles of the Demiurge and the archons. daimonology and alchemy. Egyptian Hermes. We do not possess the actual treatment of apparatus and furnaces. and arises from his unique synthesis of Gnosticism. is inherent in the theoretical position of Zosimos. also edited by Mertens (o.
31 I follow the critical edition of Mertens. in which the astral rulers and their daimonic agents are conceived as hostile to the human spirit. Authentic Memoirs concerning Apparatus and Furnaces.
. and which provide the theoretical and spiritual background to his interpretation of alchemy. Particularly prominent is the inﬂuence of an “archontic” Gnosticism. As Garth Fowden has argued. with the exception perhaps of a short excerpt. are indeed in a certain tension with his commitment to the material operations of alchemy—thus his concerns about the role of daimonic and astrologic inﬂuences in the processes of tincturing. in the vein of the Apocryphon of John. Omega is of great importance for understanding the Gnostic and Hermetic currents that inﬂuence Zosimos. Contemporary scholars have attempted to differentiate these Hermetic and Gnostic currents (which for Zosimos are clearly part of one framework) in terms of “optimistic” and “pessimistic” gnôsis. I shall argue. How then can they be understood as guardians of the liberating alchemic gnôsis? This problem. has deep implications for Zosimos’s attitude towards astrological and daimonic inﬂuences in alchemy. I shall argue. On the letter Omega. Zosimos of Panopolis. While it is true that the Hermetica generally give a more positive assessment of the natural world.. 32 Zosimos blends conceptions from the Hermetica with an “archontic” Gnosticism. Jackson’s interpretation of the tractate is problematic: he understands Zosimos to be endorsing ‘opportune tinctures’ and stressing the need for astrologic considerations. and as responsible for its continuing enslavement in the world of Fate and corporeality32.ALCHEMY AS FORBIDDEN KNOWLEDGE
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to overcome. The Hermetic Poimandres is quite close in spirit to the so-called “gnostic” viewpoint. 3. 102ff).c. The full title in the manuscript reads. as reﬂected in his anxieties about embodiment and the daimonic ministers. Daimonology and Alchemy in Zosimos The tractate On the Letter Omega is evidently an introduction to a larger work of Zosimos concerning alchemical furnaces and apparatus. a reading that turns the argument on its head. 1-10. Of the same Zosimos.

nor are they thrown by her evils. Omega 2. reluctantly they concede. When all of their art and good fortune has been overturned . For Zosimos. . and a maleﬁc (kakapoiou) daimon has taken charge of them. Their reasons for rejecting this technical work center around their commitment to a conception of ‘opportune tinctures’ (kairikai katabaphai. in which they have placed all their trust. the messengers of Fate.138
KYLE A. since they focus on the end of evils (5. entirely lacking knowledge of their divine origin and end. Zosimos expresses frustration to Theosebeia about a group of alchemists who have ridiculed a certain work on furnaces and apparatus. because they neither rejoice in her blessings. These men claim that the practical requirements laid down in the book on furnaces are false and unnecessary. They are so ﬁxated on the material ends of the art that they forget about the ﬁckleness of fortune—until disaster strikes. This conception of Fate incorporates a mix of Stoic and Gnostic ideas. for they are masters of pleasure. from this clear demonstration of their Fate. which he evidently holds in high regard. or tinctures which are effected through the observance of propitious astrological times. The true philosopher or alchemist is liberated inwardly from the cycles of pleasure and pain which Fate controls:
Hermes and Zoroaster maintained that the race of philosophers is superior to Fate. And no demonstrative argument has persuaded them that it is true. since they live an inner existence.11-12). disclose their subservience to the desires of the ﬂesh. They will only concede their error when these astral forces.
Those alchemists who trust in the gifts of daimons. when it has changed in keeping with the changing moments of their Fate (kata tous chronous tês autôn heimarmenês). Fate and her daimonic administrators rule the human body and the material ends of human life. claiming that it is false. nor again do they welcome the beautiful gifts she sends. . They are as mindless as the common lot of humanity. turn against them:
For many who have received from their personal daimon the favour to succeed with these opportune tinctures have mocked the book “On Furnaces and Apparatus”. that there is something beyond the methods which they previously entertained (2. FRASER
In the opening of the work. and liberation from Fate can only be attained through self-knowledge. on the grounds that they have been blessed by the daimons simply by observing the propitious times. and their failure to grasp the spiritual ends of the alchemical art. unless their own daimon indicates this.
In their desire for immediate and easy results these alchemists eschew the disciplines of laboratory work and give themselves over to Fate.41-46).13-24).
.

was tricked by the archontic ministers of Fate into clothing himself in a corporeal Adam. On account of his innocence he did not resist.
Zosimos speaks later of the salviﬁc role of Jesus Christ. This gnostic exposition of the fall of the Anthropos is of exceeding importance for the light it casts on Zosimos’s attitude to the astrological and daimonic dimensions of alchemy. or at least ambivalent. The idea that alchemical processes and substances are sympathetically aligned to astral inﬂuences had been central to alchemy from the start. pervaded by spirit (diapneomenos). Nag Hammadi Library. a jealous entity that mimics the true God.133).104-109). which they had created from Fate and the four elements. In the course of this account it becomes evident that Zosimos’s distrust of the astrological dimensions of alchemic practice (as encapsulated in the notion of ‘opportune tinctures’) is rooted in a gnostic conviction that the ruling powers of the cosmos stand in a hostile. 29-30. explaining how humanity has become enslaved to the powers of Fate. No doubt Zosimos would not go so far as to reject entirely the idea of ‘opportune tinctures’. as is reﬂected in the planetary symbols for gold and silver (i. As a follower of the “Hermetic” way in alchemy. Zosimos would no doubt have been aware
33 Apocryphon of John. 1.
. they [sc. 1. As a result of this deceit. II. in: Robinson. and they boasted because he had been reduced to slavery (11.e. Zosimos tells us that the spiritual or luminous man.121-132). whom the Hebrews call Adam. 24-27.21.H. persuaded him—who was without malice and powerless—to clothe himself in the Adam. seeking to maintain human enslavement to Fate and matter. and the Egyptians Thoth. Working against the salviﬁc aims of Christ is a ﬁgure called the ‘counterfeit daimon’ (14. N.C. This counterfeit daimon has an analogue in the ‘opposing spirit’ of the Apocryphon of John. the archons]. which is infused by the archons into the material composition of Adam to resist the aims of the good spirit.ALCHEMY AS FORBIDDEN KNOWLEDGE
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Zosimos enters now into an extended account of the fall of the spiritual Anthropos. relation to the spiritual aims of the alchemist. the light of the spiritual Adam became trapped and divided in material bodies:
When Light (Phôs) was in paradise. composed of the four elements. Note also the analogies with the Book of Enoch: the angels of Ialdabaoth seduce the daughters of men and beget offspring through them (II. who has been sent by the Father to awaken Adam’s spiritual nature33.29-30). the solar disk and lunar crescent). in the service of Fate. who instructed humanity as to its spiritual nature and began to recollect the Light that had been dispersed throughout matter (13.

inscribed it on stelae . to a large extent. Thus. are also—and more fundamentally—antipathetic to the spiritual aims of transmutation. . should not put all of his faith in the stars. and by developing an empirical technique suited to manipulating these na34 Following the Greek text of Nock & Festugière. vol. Zosimos argues. Indeed. having learned from Hermes that things below are ordered sympathetically by the Demiurge to those above. The argument of On the Letter Omega implies the existence of different schools of alchemy. as well as lawgivers.
. they became initiators of men in arts and sciences and all pursuits. IV. Zosimos does not deny the importance of these sympathetic “vertical” relations. independently of daimonic inﬂuences. but that a diversity of methods and techniques should be recognized within the single Art (17. grounded in an empirical grasp of the natural powers of substances. These men. having learned from Hermes that the atmosphere is full of daimons. The alchemist achieves this independence by attending to the natural sympathies and antipathies of substances. 67-68. so the alchemist. with different methods and aims.171-189). The problem is that the planets.
Clearly the Hermetic view expressed here recognizes the necessity of daimonic inﬂuences and the vertical alignment of the sciences to the heavens.140
KYLE A. and their archontic rulers. The school which Zosimos criticizes follows an exclusively astrological methodology. and its claims about the daimonic origins of Chêmeia. from the changing whims of Fate (18. These considerations provide a fuller context and background for the Synkellos fragment. as far as this is possible. Corpus Hermeticum. Zosimos insists on the need for a rigorous methodology and technique. but should develop a strong basis in technique. operating independently. instituted the sacred procedures (hieropoiias) on earth which are vertically aligned ( proskathetous) to the heavenly mysteries34. His view is not that the astrologic side should be rejected entirely. Just as in the area of medicine we do not put all of our trust in healing priests. he also wants to maintain that the alchemist can operate. . for instance in the Koré Kosmou:
These are the men who.160-170). The folly of these alchemists lies in their complete subservience to the archons and their daimonic messengers. with little regard for the practical operation of furnaces and other apparatus. Though Zosimos does indeed acknowledge the role of daimons in Omega. fragment XXIII. but seek out also the practical advice of natural physicians. in addition to the observance of astrologic conditions. FRASER
of the strong daimonic and astrologic doctrine attributed to Hermes.

they hindered them even in attaining the non-natural tinctures (Fest. appendix 1. and gave these to their priests. Révélation I. but as personalities with their own malevolent intentions. They acted as follows. The true alchemist must recognize the necessity of daimonic and astral inﬂuences. and ‘natural tinctures’. a
35 I am following the Greek text established by Festugière. due to the jealous stratagems of the daimons. who resent the independence of the alchemists and their natural methods. with its concerns about predatory daimons. so that they would not be whipped. and nourished with sacriﬁces. the Final Quittance. and if the common people were neglectful of the sacriﬁces. striking connections to the Book of Enoch. The daimons are conceived not merely as cosmic and impersonal principles of Fate. 18-26)35. without becoming further enslaved to them. not only out of envy.
. This is what they did. 363-368. revealing them only to the priests who slavishly worship them:
When the [daimonic] guardians are driven off from the great men they [sc. Eventually these natural secrets were appropriated by the daimons and became contingent upon their inﬂuence and will. That this is indeed the considered opinion of Zosimos is conﬁrmed by another of his theoretical works. has been almost forgotten. Here we ﬁnd once again a discussion of the differences between ‘opportune tinctures’. The daimons now jealously guard these secrets of tincturing. which are grounded in a more empirical methodology and technique. but venerated and invoked. in the time of Hermes. and so are dependent upon the offerings of human worshippers. But this true alchemy. regarded as natural tinctures ( physikai baphai). chased away. and punished with hunger through the cessation of the sacriﬁces. They hid the natural tincture and introduced their non-natural tincture. the daimons] deliberate as to how they may lay claim to our natural tinctures. ll.
Zosimos holds the view that the daimons which inhabit the upper regions of the world are nourished by the smoke of sacriﬁce. the daimonology is developed much more directly and extensively. but giving heed also to their own sustenance. There are. They concealed all the natural and selfregulating tinctures (ta physika kai automata). Zosimos claims that those tinctures which are called ‘opportune’ (kairikai) in his day were. There is an implication that the airy bodies of these daimons are actually replenished by the sacriﬁcial vapours. p. For the goal of true alchemy—spiritual alchemy—is liberation from the conditions of fatality. we shall see.ALCHEMY AS FORBIDDEN KNOWLEDGE
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tural powers. 366. so as not to be driven away by men. which Hermes knew. In this account. which are astrologic and daimonic in origin.

Zosimos seems to be concerned that Theosebeia is associating with a “prophet” of this debased school of alchemy. they surrender themselves. They are ‘wretched lovers of pleasure’ (p. which attempt to seduce human women with false promises of wisdom. They concealed the old Hermetic secrets of natural tincturing and replaced them with non-natural or ‘opportune’ tinctures.142
KYLE A. realizing the natural tinctures. Zosimos says. 210.15ff (des Places). the spiritual dangers of their enslavement. and to focus inwardly on attaining the knowledge and experience of the true God. FRASER
question that seems to have been debated in theurgic circles36. the idea that daimons are nourished by theurgic sacriﬁce involves a confusion of “wholes” and “parts”. in exchange for the superﬁcial trappings of the art. the daimons plotted to keep the alchemists dependent upon them. spit on matter. the material substances over which they are supposed to hold dominion. and once baptized in the krater (baptistheisa tôi kratêri) ascend quickly to your own race (Fest. body and soul. In other words they care only for profane gold but not for the “gold” of self-puriﬁcation. hungry not only for sacriﬁces. take refuge in Poimandres. are ﬁxated on the material ends of the art. 368. 1-4). Zosimos says that these alchemists. ll. dear lady. Here we are close indeed to the concerns expressed in the Book of Enoch about predatory daimons. criticized by Zosimos in On the Letter Omega: those who ridicule the techniques of natural alchemy and trust only in astrologic and daimonic principles. making the daimons subject to.
36 Iamblichus falls on the other side of the debate. through their false prophet: the local daimons ﬂatter you. 6-8). and dependent upon.
. ll. See Les Mystères d’Égypte. p. 5). who cannot see. Instead of seeking liberation through alchemy from the pleasures and pains of the body. l. and has unwittingly made herself the object of daimonic lust: ‘They wish to do the same to you. It is clear that these misguided alchemists are in precisely the same situation as those blind followers of Fate. 67. which attract these daimons. 367. When you recognize that you have been perfected. In order to ensure the maintenance of their sacriﬁces. to these predatory daimons. but for your soul’ (p. On his view. The ﬁnal lines clarify in a direct and explicit way the Hermetic and Gnostic inﬂuences that underlie his interpretation of alchemy:
Do these things until you perfect your soul. then. Zosimos urges Theosebeia to master the immoderate bodily passions and appetites. which they now reveal only to those who make the proper sacriﬁces. or do not care to see. who serve the daimons in exchange for secrets of tincturing.

and to the delight of the predatory daimons. for Zosimos. Zosimos advises Theosebeia to perform certain sacriﬁces after the example of Solomon: ‘Then. or baptismal bowl. the problem of daimons remains largely unresolved. which led to the original fall.ALCHEMY AS FORBIDDEN KNOWLEDGE
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Zosimos seems to imply a familiarity with two of the tractates of the Corpus Hermeticum (or if we cannot assume that he knows the tractates themselves. In other words he urges her to reject the downward pull of the body and its appetites. In referring Theosebeia to this Hermetic tractate. and which continue to keep humans enslaved to Fate and the daimons. IV. but
37
For the Greek text see Nock & Festugière.
. The Greek word for ‘baptize’. superior to the daimons and their archontic masters. a puriﬁcation. to the alchemic terms baphê and katabaphê which I translate as ‘tincture’. Given that the alchemist must take some account of these daimonic and astrologic inﬂuences—inasmuch as he works through the material world—how can he do so without compromising the spiritual integrity of the Art and risking daimonic seduction? Is there any way to reconcile the spiritual aims of the Art with its material necessities? There is one tantalizing suggestion. discussed earlier in the paper. The Poimandres. and to its central concept of “baptism”. not the useful variety. Corpus Hermeticum. and it is the external sign of a deeper spiritual baptism. Zosimos is reminding her of the true meaning of alchemy—the Hermetic meaning—and warning her against falling in with those debased practitioners of the Art who care only for material results to the detriment of their very souls. etymologically and conceptually. In the end. vol. is also highly signiﬁcant. 4). Zosimos exhorts Theosebeia to spit on matter and take refuge in Poimandres.H. I. is connected. The different kinds of katabaphai which Zosimos discusses in On the Letter Omega and The Final Quittance are different ways of tincturing or “baptizing” metals. baptizein and its cognates. he urges her to resist this attraction to Nature and to return to her spiritual origin as a true child of Poimandres. without being called to do it.H. a baptism precisely of the sort that is described in C. Tractate IV of our Corpus Hermeticum. at least he knows their central concepts). these received the gnôsis and became complete men. The Krater or Monad 37. describes a spiritual baptism of the soul in nous or mind. This “baptism” of metals is. This baptism imparts the secret gnôsis which liberates us from material enslavement: ‘All those who heeded the proclamation and were baptized in mind (ebaptisanto tou noos). IV. The reference to the krater. presents the famous gnostic account of the “narcissistic” fall of the Anthropos. offer sacriﬁces to the daimons. however. not those which nourish and comfort them. having received mind’ (C.

One wonders whether he has read the Testament of Solomon38. 3. in which Solomon describes how he harnessed the powers of the daimons. the Jewish God (Testament. to reveal its name.’ (Testament 26. 39 K. Zosimos does not clarify the
38 See Testament of Solomon. There is disagreement as to the date of the Testament. and he becomes enslaved to them: ‘. Fest.C. 367. . so that Solomon can harness their powers in the sacred work of the Temple’s construction: ‘Die Gestirnsmächte sind depotenzierte Engel oder Götter . in turn. Nag Hammadi Library. gezüchtigt und sogar zum Dienst am Tempelbau herangezogen’ (Das Ringen um die Astrologie. There we are told that Solomon built Jerusalem by means of daimons. those which Mambres [Jambres?] gave to Solomon. Der jüdische Gott ist es. be controlled and made subject to the spiritual work of the alchemist—just as Solomon was able to harness the daimons toward the spiritual ends of the Temple. mentioned in the Testament (25. p. FRASER
those which deter and destroy them. As K. then the connection is strengthened (see Duling. and the angelic or divine power that thwarts it. commands each demon. he is able to control the demons. and of which he himself has written according to his wisdom’ (Final Quittance. king of Jerusalem. through the divine power of his ring. Duling. Charlesworth. If the “Mambres” of Zosimos is the Egyptian sorcerer Jambres. 417). with the aid of their angelic superiors. ed. D. who holds divine dominion over daimons. even if we cannot be certain that he knows this version of it. now held under the dominion of the Jewish angels and. and he sacriﬁces to pagan gods. von Stuckrad argues. A similar legend can be found in the Nag Hammadi Testimony of Truth. trans. 950-51.4). in which case Zosimos could be familiar with it. N. my spirit was darkened and I became a laughingstock to the idols and demons. So long as he maintains a pious relation to God. in order to complete the construction of the Temple. In The Old Testament Pseudepigrapha.70). ultimately.
. its distinctive activity. In any case. but the consensus seems to place it between the 1st and 3rd centuries CE. Solomon. 24-27).C. nt. welcher die Himmelsmächte kontrolliert. .H.144
KYLE A. But when his piety is compromised. Unfortunately.7-8). Zosimos seems to be familiar with the tradition. . and harness their powers for sacred ends. which he subsequently imprisoned in the Temple (in Robinson. IX. durch seine Kraft werden die Dämonen ihrer Göttlichkeit beraubt. . 935-987. von Stuckrad notes that the subordination of the astral powers to the Jewish God and His angelic ministers neutralizes their malevolent potency. in turn. Zosimos here shows his familiarity with the folk legends of Solomon as a magus and exorcist. 94). one sees in the Testament a monotheistic response to the problem of the malevolent astral powers39. 18). through their divine superiors. its planetary or zodiacal designation. his control over the demons is lost. then he may be suggesting to Theosebeia that the daimons which are attempting to control and seduce her can. If Zosimos does have this Solomonic tradition in mind. Of special interest is the manner in which the Egyptian decan gods are demoted to daimons. ll.

Contra Celsum. Zosimos joins the Book of Enoch in condemning these base practitioners of the occult sciences. and applied to the wrong ends.). employing a natural methodology based on the natural sympathies and antipathies of substances. 3 vols. For them the tincturing of metals is surface deep. Hermetic alchemy. because it operates—as far as possible—independently of daimons and astrologic principles.ALCHEMY AS FORBIDDEN KNOWLEDGE
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character of these sacriﬁces. Nova Scotia.
.). Marcellin. Canada). True alchemy. Frank Cole (ed. The notion that alchemy proceeds on the basis of the revelations of unscrupulous daimons. is a central and persistent concern of Zosimos’s theoretical writings on alchemy. When Zosimos speaks approvingly of the Enochian account. or their function within the alchemical art. Steinheil. Chadwick. is above reproach. lacking entirely the spiritual implications of “baptism” that Zosimos ﬁnds philosophically expressed in his Hermetic sources. 1888. Their version of Chêmeia is indeed ‘of no advantage to the soul’. who are slaves to their own passions and to the daimons who rule the world of Fate and matter. and trans. Plutarch’s Moralia (Loeb Classical Library). and trans. Cambridge 1965.
Kyle Alexander Fraser (1971) is Assistant Professor of Humanities at the University of King’s College (Halifax. Otto Zeller 1967. can enslave. Origen. Henry (ed. so this speculation cannot be conﬁrmed with any certainty. However. Zosimos does not view himself as undermining the divine status of alchemy.
Bibliography
Babbit. 4. Conclusion We are now in a better position to understand why Zosimos.. Berthelot. even as it can serve as a tool of liberation and enlightenment in the right hands. in the quotation from Synkellos. Collection des Anciens Alchimistes Grecs. in endorsing and indeed developing the Enochian account of daimonic inﬂuence. who are too lazy for laboratory work and have no interest in the puriﬁcation of their bodies and souls. Paris: G. endorses the Enochian account of the origins of the occult sciences. it may be that he has chieﬂy in mind that other school of “so-called” alchemists. He sees clearly that knowledge in the wrong hands. Harvard University Press 1969. repr. or that it derives its very efﬁcacy from astrologic and daimonic principles.

Second. hubris. Mosaic versus Egyptian Magic in Jewish Literature All doubts considering the possibility of a magical Moses-ﬁguration are conﬁrmed by biblical and rabbinical literature. it is possible to distinguish and describe the potentials of the magical Moses in early modernity from a diachronic and intercultural perspective. In this manner. on the other. sorcery. As will be seen. and idolatry’. The formula samti pedut bein ami
4 Cf. In fact. That is why the question that has been thrown up here demands. even with a focus on early modernity. the image of Egypt as the land of despotism.MOSES AS MAGICIAN
149
(according to the paradigm of the Moses of Mount Sinai). in the dialectical process of secularisation and of modernity. an investigation of the potentials and representations of a magical Moses cannot restrict itself to the narrow domain of Latin. a historical contextualization of Mosesconﬁgurations requires discussion of sources ranging from late antiquity to the 19th century. 1. The emphasis here lies on the Moses of Sinai as sharply separated from the Moses of Egypt. we will analyze the proﬁle of Moses as magician in Jewish. and a knowledge of magic (according to the paradigm of the Moses of Egypt). one needs to study the relevant processes of theological and scientiﬁc transformation and re-interpretation within the transitional domain between Judaism and Christianity. two different Moses-ﬁgurations appear: Moses the law-giver of Mount Sinai. Moses the Egyptian. the subject of Moses as magician requires a comparative study of Jewish as well as Christian literature. the Egyptian Moses-paradigm is here resurrected under new conditions.
. brute-worship. and especially in kabbalistic literature. Clearly. Firstly. and Moses the magician from Egypt. European Christianity in early modernity. Secondly. rabbinical literature: the rejection of Egyptian magic becomes basic to the establishment of tradition. the establishment of mosaic monotheism in the second Book of Moses is presented here as an uncompromising victory over Egyptian magic4. 11: ‘the Hebrew Moses of the Bible has kept an image of Egypt alive in Western tradition that was thoroughly antithetic to Western ideals. on the one hand. Thus. Moses’ victory over the magic of the Egyptians has become even a foundational element in biblical and accordingly. Rather. from a historical and systematic perspective. to be approached from a wider perspective. Assmann. First. we will investigate the reinterpretations and transformations of Moses the magician in the literature of Christian Kabbalah and modern esotericism.

As prophecy of the one God. ‘I will make a distinction between my people and yours. that ye may know how that the Lord doth put a difference between the Egyptians and Israel’. Mosaic monotheism emerges ﬁrst of all as a result of its separation from Egyptian sorcery. who alone lays claim to authority. Not by accident. Magie und Halakha. The Talmud. but also with religious and even cultural history: at stake is nothing less than the origin of Judaism itself.
5 Cf. the cultural difference between Israel and Egypt is deﬁned more clearly as the difference between law and magic. ‘You shall not practice divination or sorcery’ (Lev 19:26). . Here too. 59-65. 284: ‘[. Let no one be found among you who makes his son or daughter pass through ﬁre. since ‘the activities of the sorcerer and the inspiration of the Most Holy cannot exist side by side’8. no augur or soothsayer or diviner or sorcerer (mekashef )’ . . Cf. Die Werke in deutscher Übersetzung. and ﬁnally ‘. which cannot have its origins in Moses’ early Egyptian knowledge but must be founded on the later revelation of Mount Sinai.150
ANDREAS B. 9 Philo von Alexandria. . (Deut 18:10)7. . and by politics. I. is demonstrated most pronouncedly with reference to magic: in a competition of sorcerers. . portrayed Moses precisely as censor of divination and magic.] denn magische Zauberei durfte mit hochheiliger Verzückung nicht zusammenwohnen’. Philo’s Moses replaces magic by religion. SpecLeg I. in De Vita Mosis.
. De vita Mosis.11. It is articulated three times: ‘You shall not suffer a witch (mekashafa) to live’ (Ex 22:18). the ﬁrst and emphatically repeated directives of Moses’ law-giving on Mount Sinai include the prohibition of magic. I. for instance. 7 Cf. Philo of Alexandria. 8 Philo of Alexandria. the origin of the Jewish religion is not an Egyptian secret doctrine but the divine revelation on Mount Sinai. It was to be expected that the biblical interdict of sorcery and thus also the interpretation of Moses as vanquisher of magic would also be emphasized in philosophical and rabbinical literature. the translation in: Philo von Alexandria. Philo’s Moses outlawed any form of divination and magic as a ‘false delusion’9. In the further development of the Mosaic founding act. Even stronger: ‘as devotee and teacher of the truth’. The reasons have to do not merely with religious law. . Ex 11:7: ‘.’ (Ex 8:23)5. on the one hand. . The Torah emphatically attaches importance to presenting the Mosaic position as opposed to the Egyptian religion of sorcery. 277. 6 Ex 7:14-10. the myth of the origin of the Jewish religion as such is decisive: it began not in Egypt but on Mount Sinai. KILCHER
ubein amecha. Cf Veltri. . Accordingly. also 3 Mose 19:31 and 3 Mose 20:27. on the other. Moses defeats the Egyptian magicians6. 62.

the cultural and theological separation between Egypt and Israel. 40. Cf. Cf. ‘Egypt took nine and the whole rest of the world took one’11. but without having to give up magic entirely. According to the Talmudic tract Menachoth. the state. religion—are presented as fruits of a victory over myth. 38-43. the two Egyptian sorcerers Jochana and Mamra. upholds a strict distinction between Israel and Egypt. that is to say. in spite of this basic and easily understandable element of the Jewish religion. but rather. 1. turns out to be based not directly on the difference between magic and law. Still. he did appropriate it in a monotheistic. Decisive evidence is to be found already in the biblical writings. This difference is manifest already at the level of terminology.MOSES AS MAGICIAN
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too. Das altjüdische Zauberwesen. The far-reaching innovations established by Moses—law. with its origins on Mount Sinai. when Moses performed his “portents and miracles” in Egypt in the service of God. Or formulated positively: the beginning of monotheistic religion lies in the voice of God. ‘Ten measures of sorcery (keshaﬁm) came down upon this world’. Deut 34:11. Moses had to defeat the Egyptian sorcerers. another Mosaic and monotheist. Egypt is repeatedly mentioned as the origin of sorcery. in Moses’ case reference is made to “portents and miracles”. 12 Ex 7:3. also Marcel Simon. footn. Das altjüdische Zauberwesen. Therefore in religious philosophy and Halachist literature. 13 bT Menachoth 85a. divination and magic. On closer observation. received and written down by Moses in the desert. secularised and transformed shape. Whereas in the case of Egypt the term “sorcery” (kishuf ) is used. we ﬁnd that while Moses may not have adopted magic in its manifestations disqualiﬁed as “Egyptian”. the
10 Cf. ‘All of Egypt is full of sorcery’. for there one will ﬁnd buyers’13. which is the real goal of the contest between Moses and the Egyptian sorcerers. even within Jewish literature Mosaic monotheism cannot exclusively be considered as vanquisher of all kinds of magic. clearly separates itself: The phrase kol mizraiim male keshuﬁm. Blau. This made it possible to draw a cultural difference and separate the Jewish religion from the Egyptian. from which Israel. bring greenery. 11 bT Kidduschin 49b. At closer scrutiny. mosaic is whatever is different from magic. ‘Superstition et magie’.
. can be found in numerous Midrashim10. Blau. whereupon Moses replied: ‘To a city that is rich in greenery. one may read in the tract Kiddushin. asked him ‘Are you taking straw to Afraim?’. Cf. on the difference between two forms of magic: one Egyptian and polytheist. otioth we muftaim12.

and the magical tricks of the so-called “illusionists”. 19 Cf. on which the name ‘ehyeh ascher ehyeh’ is inscribed. Midrasch Rabba. The Talmud therefore distinguishes between true monotheistic magic. who owes his power not to mythical-demonic forces of nature but to the one God of the Sinai: ‘Never yet in Israel has a prophet risen like Moses. on Exodus 7:11 and 22. legitimised by God and employed by Moses. by similar means—if not by sorcery. is careful not to confuse the Mosaic “miracles” with Egyptian “sorcery”. Cf. KILCHER
chartumim and mekasheﬁm mizraim. but also a secularisation and a sublimation of magic in its transition from myth to religion. then with “portents and miracles”. 31. bT Baba Batra 73a. 18 According to Rabba it is possible to calm a storm with a ‘staff’. Already the relevant passage in Exodus. be-lahateihem)14 the Egyptian sorcerers worked with the assistance of ‘corrupt angels’ (malache chabala) and ‘demons’ (shadaim). 1. and on that of the inexpressible four-letter name.
14 15
. also Blau. Horowitz. the tetragrammaton. Veltri. As pointed out by the ﬁnal passages of the Torah. . When. on the one hand.152
ANDREAS B. 17 5 Mose 34:10-12. with all the signs and portents . Sammlung kleiner Midraschim. the difference between Egyptian and Mosaic magic could be explained in terms of a dichotomy between polytheism and monotheism. . This monotheist reinterpretation and legalisation of magic as action in the service and in the name of God culminates in a theology of the Name of God. Secondly.. especially in the Haggadic elements of the Talmud18 and Midrash19. footn. 15. 34:10-12)17. According to the Exodus commentary of the Midrash Rabba. Das altjüdische Zauberwesen. remember the strong hand of Moses (ha-jad hachasaka) and the terrible deeds which he did in the sight of all of Israel’ (Deut. on the other16. Das altjüdische Zauberwesen. ﬁrst revealed in the burning bush of Mount Sinai as ehyeh asher ehyeh. Moses’ political and legal authority is accordingly based on a theological one: on his knowledge of God’s Name. Cf. Moses was understood as a magician. this was because of his ‘knowledge of the Name’ ( jediat ha-
Ex 7:11 and 22. Cf. ‘I am who I am’. whom the Lord knew face to face. 16 Cf. Blau. Moses is the prototype of such a monotheistically transformed magician. 64f. whereas Moses acted on God’s authority15. in their attempt to imitate and outdo Moses ‘with their spells’ (Ex 7:12. and in a later period rabbinical literature as well. Mosaic monotheism is therefore not merely a vanquishing. Magie und Halakha. 69.

Now guard it truly.MOSES AS MAGICIAN
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shem)20. The only possible strategy was the one also followed by rabbinical literature: there are different kinds of magic. It will save you from all the woes of this world22. with which he brought about portents and acts of power. as demonstrated by evidence in Jewish literature since late antiquity and the early Middle Ages. 45 and 59. the introduction. Clearly the author of this text was aware that the magic presented in Moses’ name challenged not only the Mosaic prohibition. The magical knowledge of these late antique fragments from the library of Cairo is. Egyptian magic that operates with animal gods and demons. also Gaster. that is to say. 10 (§ 606). Jewish Magic and Superstition.
The attempt to legitimise magic in this text again reﬂects the dialectic according to which Mosaic magic meant an abolishment of Egyptian magic not
Cf. one reads in one of the incantation texts. . p. with this Name of the great. . IV. This element was raised in Jewish mysticism almost to the level of a discipline. ‘Incantation and Books of Magic’. ‘The Sword of Moses’. Nor is it a coincidence that the name Moses is found in the title of a certain magical text from the period of late Hekhaloth literature. 22 Übersetzung der Hekhalot-Literatur. Trachtenberg. an eminent example of Mosaic knowledge. (then) it will protect you. that Name which was written down by Moses the prophet’21. . 90ff. he clearly demonstrated how difﬁcult it was for magical literature to legitimise magic within the Mosaic paradigm. and put an end to all sorcery. but in also presenting Moses as the vanquisher of magic. Magische Texte aus der Kairoer Geniza. terrible and fearless God. The expression “Sword of Moses” is a metaphor for God’s Name. It is not by accident that Moses appears in numerous fragments as the person to whom the divine names were revealed and who knew how to handle them. In not only sharply differentiating the Mosaic magic of the Name from sorcery. ‘and establish [that you] will grant me everything I earnestly request before the throne of magniﬁcence. the practice of magic based upon the monotheist theology of God’s Name must be accompanied by a prohibition of the polytheist.
This is the sword of Moses. It was revealed to Moses in the burning bush and (thereby) the great and precious Name was made known to him. accordingly. Alexander. but the victory over Egyptian sorcery as well. Cf. are essentially based on the Mosaic theology of God’s Name. heroic.
20 21
. Cf. The Magical Fragments from the Geniza of Cairo for instance. ‘And once more I invoke you’. 61. the so-called ‘Sword of Moses’ (Harba de Moshe). Cf. VII-XVII.

.K. the ﬁrst Kabbalist. all the way back to Moses at Mount Sinai’24.] cannot be understood. Kilcher. which deﬁnes itself as “transmission”: the very meaning of the term “Kabbalah” is “reception”. KILCHER
only in the sense of its annihilation but also in the sense of its reinterpretation. ‘from the mouth of a wise receptor. 25. Nachmanides’ Torah commentary thus restores a primordial and esoteric revelatory knowledge that ‘cannot be inferred from the text and cannot be known at all. Thus the Kabbalah ﬁnds its mythical beginnings in the Mosaic revelation at Sinai and has been passed on from the time of this primordial act of oral initiation—the founding act of the Mosaic religion—. all the way back to Moses. except by a tradition that goes back to Moses our teacher and that he received out of the mouth of the Almighty (eino muwan min ha-mikraot we-lo joda al borahw ela mipe hakabbala ad moshe rabenu mipe hageburah)’26. Thus Nachmanides
23 24 25 26
Cf. that is to say. what is handed down by tradition.154
ANDREAS B. not only under its magical aspect— speciﬁcally the so-called “practical Kabbalah” (kabbala maæassit)—but also due to his mythical status as founding father of the Kabbalah as such. together with the exoteric knowledge that he put down in the “written Torah” (tora she-bichtav). received by Moses as “oral Torah” (tora she-bealpeh) on Mount Sinai. Ibid. The Commentary of Nachmanides. kabbalah is the transmission of the very esoteric knowledge concerning the Torah (sitre tora). one of the earliest Spanish Kabbalists. or literally translated. except [by a chain of transmission] from mouth to mouth (mi-peh al-peh). as formulated e. This is the classic kabbalistic Nachrichtentheorie (media theory)23. 28. ‘by being spoken from the mouth of a wise Kabbalist into the ear of an informed Kabbalist’.. A. More precisely.. Rejection of magic goes hand in hand with its monotheistic transformation. 29. For questions of origin and transmission are particularly relevant in the context of the Kabbalah. into the ear of an understanding receiver’ (mipe mekubal chacham leosen mekkabel mevin)25. the Moses ﬁgure is of decisive importance for the Kabbalah. by Moses ben Nachman. The dialectic confrontation of the abolishment and sublimation of magic is particularly virulent in the type of Jewish literature where magic is to be most expected: the literature of the kabbalah.g. from receptor to receptor. ‘Kabbalistische Nachrichtentheorie’. However. Ibid. in his Torah commentary: ‘These veiled hints [in the Torah. In this way the Kabbalist chain of transmission of oral information can be traced along a network of mediators: from mekubal to mekabbel. according to Nachmanides.

‘In effect. Abulaﬁa nevertheless rejects a magical theory of the Name of God such as was possible in Hekhaloth mysticism. More than that: he shows that ultimately ‘the whole of the Torah consists of the names of God’ (od jesh bejadenu kabbala shel emet she-kol hatorah kulah shemotav shel kadosh baruch-hu)27. Although he grounds his Kabbalah entirely on the Mosaic metaphysics of the Name. 22. Abulaﬁa put forward his ‘real knowledge of
Ibid. merely by uttering these Names.
This is a phenomenology of magical practice that corresponds quite precisely with the contents of texts like the Harba de Moshe30. Under this label (kabbala ma’assit). and that they can assuage the angry seas by means of the power of the Name29. “Masters of the Name”:
Their error lies in their belief that they can bring about wonders by means of the Power of the Names and their recitations. According to Nachmanides. This is because the Kabbalist. Kabbalah. In his Sheva Netivoth ha-Tora (Seven Ways of the Torah) he critisised those who described themselves as Baæale Shem.MOSES AS MAGICIAN
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understands the Kabbalah as the handing down of an unwritten. as a central element in the oral tradition of the secrets of the Torah that was the substance of the Kabbalah. original voice of God. older forms of magic like those of “The Sword of Moses” were assimilated. as becomes particularly clear in the ecstatic Kabbalah formulated by the Spanish Kabbalist Abraham Abulaﬁa at the end of the 13th century. They imagine that they can ﬂy. 181-224. makes the secret Name of God in the Torah understandable. 20-34. Niggemeyer. what came to be considered practical Kabbalah constituted an agglomeration of all the magical practices that developed in Judaism from the talmudic period down to the Middle Ages’. Now. This could not but lead to problems. 27. namely a magic in the Mosaic tradition that again clearly differentiates itself from the Egyptian kind. he sees it. the knowledge of God’s Name is part of this esoteric knowledge. that they can extinguish ﬁre. Beschwörungsformeln. heard by Moses on Sinai and handed on by oral transmission from there on. and these were later reinterpreted in the context of new kabbalistic systems28. by specialised hermeneutic procedures. 29 ‘Sheva netivoth ha-Torah’. that they can defeat their enemies by means of words.
27 28
. In the so-called “practical Kabbalah” this Mosaic knowledge concerning the Name of God becomes a factor of decisive importance. indeed. without understanding their meaning. it is this idea that allows for a certain form of acceptable magic within the kabbalah. 183. In opposition to this magical practice of the Name. Scholem. 30 Cf..

but at their application for profane purposes. Cf. [and if] they could in fact produce portents and miracles with them. Niggemeyer. Abulaﬁa replaced the magical incantations of the Name with a meditative combinatorial use of its letters. he made a distinction between the prophetic (that is to say. what is the meaning of his dream and what is his plan’. Abulaﬁa’s student Josef Gikatilla transformed the older Mosaic magic of the Name according to the new linguistic premises of the Kabbalah. /what is his will. such as the name of 72 letters. the magic of
Gikatilla. for these names and the use of them in magic are a means to capture souls and corrupt them. . which was indeed widespread in the use of amulets and invocation texts not only up until the 14th century. But here it also becomes clear. the Mosaic) era and his own one (around 1300). While warning against the magical use of the Name in the prologue to his book Shaæare Orah (Gates of Light). Steer clear of that path. they never used them for personal beneﬁt31. KILCHER
the Name’ ( jediat shemot amitit). so that you may use them’. of 12 letters and many other holy names. In his criticism of the use of the Name in magic (shimushim).156
ANDREAS B. of 42 letters. This historical distinction was accompanied by a systematic one: the instrumentalisation of the Name for profane purposes is rejected. 1aff. 33 Gikatilla. In a similar way. its use for “portents and miracles” is considered legitimate:
If you are told: ‘Come with us and we will reveal to you the Name and the incantations. my son.
Gikatilla’s criticism is therefore not directed at the magical power of the Names as such.
31 32
. 198. fol. In it. Beschwörungsformeln. by the way. that you tell me . . but would continue within Hasidism right into the 19th century32. . . the magical/theurgical theology of the names as formulated in Hekhaloth literature is transformed into a mystical/ecstatic version of the Mosaic theology of the names. 1a. while criticizing a contemporary usage of the magical theology of the Name. as well. Shaæare Orah. fol. And if it is true that our sages were in the possession of holy names. . to allow for its possibility in the era of prophecy. how a Mosaic magic could nevertheless remain possible within the context of Kabbalah. by his Name and by his letters I invoke you/. but as in the case of the biblical Moses. Sefer ha-Rasim: ‘. . By introducing such a historical distinction it became possible. Shaæare Orah. Gikatilla makes use of a metaphor that suggests he had the “The Sword of Moses” in mind: ‘How can a mortal use holy names in magic and make from them an axe to strike with’33? In this case. do not follow them. as handed down by the prophets.

there can no longer be question of using the names the way they were used in the “Sword of Moses”. by limiting it to the era of prophecy. one might say. it is now a matter of “contemplating” the names in a meditative manner. Whoever studies these names will see that the whole of the Torah and its commandments depend upon them. less Egyptian and more Mosaic. And whosoever knows the function of any one of these names will understand the greatness of Him. This non-instrumentalist use of the magic of the Names is based on the “intentions” (kawwanoth) inherent in the Name. Shaæare Orah. such as Ejeh. but who would ‘never have used them for personal beneﬁt’34. who ‘could in fact produce portents and miracles’. should persist with all his strength to gain the function and intention of each single name. Eloh.MOSES AS MAGICIAN
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the Names can be legitimate only if it is. The point is to understand that each single one of these names is like a key to every single thing that man may need in this world. Zevaot. and to oppose the “effect” of the Names to the “knowledge” of them.
. in contrast. it lies within the truth of the tradition of our covenant. which according to Gikatilla corresponds with the ten Seﬁroth:
However. and the Hasidic li-
34 Ibid. Elohim. that the person who wishes to fulﬁl his desire by means of holy names. fol. Yah. 1b. Adonai. was able to continue the tradition of a Mosaic magic of names as it had been developed in medieval Hekhaloth literature and in the Harba de Moshe. In the post-prophetic era. 35 Gikatilla. holds the world and the Torah together. which is also the one of the kabbalah. This simultaneous presence of resistance against and sublimation of the Mosaic magical theory of names is characteristic of kabbalistic literature up to Hasidism. at least. A unitary model in the transformation of magic is not to be found. 49-67. YHVH. But the examples adduced above make clear. on the other hand. and the world was35. those holy names which are written in the Torah. that a more mystically oriented kabbalah tends to transform the Mosaic magic of Names into a theology of the Names. on its metaphysical nature. Precisely this model was taken up in the kabbalah of modern times: the Palestinian one of Moses Cordovero and Isaak Luria. and try to comprehend from what it is that. Precisely this applies to the case of ‘our sages’. A more practically oriented kabbalah. Rather. so to speak. Shaday. like a metaphysical formula. Concerning the magical function of the ‘Kidush ha-Shem’ cf. Jehuda ha-Chassid.
Gikatilla’s contribution to the transformation of magic therefore consists in a historicisation of the Mosaic magic of names. Sefer Hassidim. or. El. who spoke ‘let there be’.

Behind this lies a fundamental difference between the Jewish and the Christian Kabbalah. to locate their origin in Egypt—on the contrary: they deﬁne themselves precisely in terms of the move out of Egypt. and locate their founding act in the Mosaic revelation at mount Sinai. Not by chance. so that with its help he could accomplish the strangest things. Idel. Buber.158
ANDREAS B. For the Christian Kabbalists. reading and discussion on Jewish and especially kabbalistic literature got underway. the Persians and the
36 37
Cf. the “Master of the Name” has a central place in Hasidic piety. like those of the Greeks. Die Erzählungen der Chassidim. and in fact between Judaism and Christianity as such. 2. in their search for an esoteric origin of the Christian religion. the Mosaic ﬁgure of the “Baæal Shem”. we will now move to a comparison with early modern Christian literature. Chassidism. so to speak. that is the Master of the Name. The decisive difference consists in the fact that in the literature of Christian Kabbalah the cultural difference between Egypt and Israel had lost its relevance. or more exactly from the time of Pico della Mirandola and Johannes Reuchlin. much less problematically. KILCHER
terature of the 18th and 19th centuries that followed in its lineage36. an intense activity of translating. the successor of Moses the prophetic magician: he who not only knows the hidden Name of God but also knows how to handle it. Moses could now be an Egyptian and. 114. It is impossible for the Jewish Kabbalah. and for the Jewish religion as such. in contrast. In this context the ﬁgure of Moses the magician became of crucial importance. In his Tales of the Hasidim. It is natural to begin here because from the second half of the 15th century. The new interpretations that were given of him outside the sphere of Jewish literature were based on changed theological and philosophical premises. The “Baæal Shem” is. but in particular could heal people in body and soul’37. a magician. thus named because he knew the full hidden Name of God and was able to pronounce it. there was not the slightest problem in placing the kabbalah syncretistically alongside other esoteric traditions. Martin Buber explained in his own words what could be understood by “Baæal Shem” in a Hasidic context: ‘Baal-Shem.
. Mosaic Magic as Egyptian Magic in Christian Kabbalah and Esotericism Rather than continuing to follow the trail of Moses the magician within Jewish literature.

the admirable strength of his mysterious workings and his theological knowledge’40—more precisely. Nevertheless. 78f. his worthiness and religion. But here too. To start with the older Christian myth of the origins of the Kabbalah: it still links Moses relatively closely with the Jewish-Christian tradition. his magical ‘knowledge of the Name’. however. in which the theological question of the difference between the Egyptian and the Jewish/Christian culture is suppressed. like Johannes Reuchlin’s. the magical Names of God] that we use unchangeably and purely in the holy rite should not
38 39 40
Pico della Mirandola. in regard of his age. It is precisely here that. received by Moses at Sinai together with the Torah and originally conveyed orally. as Reuchlin speciﬁes. in the Conclusiones (1486)—as we see in more detail below—Pico went beyond the Sinai tradition and granted magic a greater respectability. Originally this is still less clearly the case in a Christian Kabbalah of rather narrow Christian-theological orientation. the difference between Egypt and Israel turns out to still exist. in Reuchlin’s view. The monotheistic sinaitic Moses of the theology of names could be fused with problems with the Egyptian Moses associated with miracles and sorcery. the nomina barbara. and replaced by an interest in the reinterpretation of magic and the hermetic science in terms of a philosophy of nature based on humanist Neoplatonism. in line with Nachmanides. the one who knows the verbum miriﬁcum and how to handle it: ‘That man’.MOSES AS MAGICIAN
159
Egyptians. Reuchlin speciﬁed the substance of this esoteric knowledge: it is the knowledge of the Hebrew written language and above all of the Name of God.
. Reuchlin. Reuchlin writes about Moses. It is prominent. De verbo miriﬁco. as “kabbalah”38. that is to say. De verbo miriﬁco (1494). Moses is undoubtedly Reuchlin’s ideal of the Christian “Baæal Shem”. Conclusiones. that is to say. 59. ‘stands high above all others . Pico della Mirandola. Oratio de hominis dignitate. In Pico della Mirandola’s Oratio de hominis dignitate (1486) the Kabbalah is not an Egyptian and magical secret knowledge but. . of what Reuchlin described as the “The Wonder-Working Word”. and occasionally even to portray the Kabbalah as an Egyptian doctrine and speak of a cabala aegyptiana. for the magic of the Name has to be legitimised by the Hebrew language:
Therefore the barbaric words [that is to say. magic remained intrinsically connected with Kabbalah and hence with the knowledge that Moses gained on Sinai39. In his ﬁrst Kabbalist writing. ﬁrst and foremost in a hermetic and esoterically-oriented Christian Kabbalah. 167. ‘the more secret and true interpretation of the law’. .

given to man by the highest God. however. i. . poor letters invested with power. ‘Luthers Übersetzungstheorie’.] recently asserted. vol. . in Reuchlin’s wake.. no less far removed are . Cf. the words of the Hebrews from those of the idol worshippers. . as taught to us by Moses. in front of the king. empty. Reuchlin. In his article Vom Schem Hamphoras und vom Geschlecht Christi (1543). incidentally. in Rome. .
It may be remarked in passing that Reuchlin here takes up a theme that was known since the time of Origenes and that. who were called wise men. 187. by means of mechanically recited words of human learning. however. ‘That . a thesis that does not seem unqualiﬁed to me. which contains the supreme power. 251. A. The Egyptian sorcerers. schemhamphoras or more precisely: the verbum miriﬁcum44. Werke.
. But in Luther’s Pauline and anti-Jewish hermeneutics the letter of the “law” had always been dead. 175.. Decisive for the connections under discussion here is the way in which magic is referred back to the Mosaic knowledge of the Hebrew language and the Hebrew Names of God. Luther’s criticism is leveled more precisely at ‘the mere. that no names in a magical and permitted work possessed the same power as the Hebrew ones42. In short: as far as the signs of God are removed from sorcery and witchcraft. De verbo miriﬁco. KILCHER
be Egyptian but. Ibid. Kilcher. was revealed to Moses and not to the forefathers’.e. he considers one of the most repulsive ‘articles of the Jewish faith’ to be that ‘their Shem Hamphoras can do anything and everything’45. 604. who by the Word of God transformed a snake into a staff. Mosaic41 .K. That is why a famous philosopher [= Pico della Mirandola. and only the sensus. 245. and with the power to work wonders’46. Gardt. . Cf. Luther. He rejected the magical theory of God’s Name not only for theological reasons. however. produced. Pico’s and Reuchlin’s Mosaic Theology of the magic Name of God.160
ANDREAS B. in the domain of holy things. found a sharp opponent in the person of Martin Luther. Reuchlin’s inerrabile nomen. 603. Ibid. that were eaten by Moses’ snake. ‘Hebräische Sprachmetaphysik’. rather. similar phenomena. . that is to say: the inexpressible Name of God. 53. the “spirit” was alive47:
41 42 43 44 45 46 47
Ibid.. but also out of an anti-Jewish tendency. would be frequently quoted in the Christian Kabbalah of the 16th and 17th centuries: the topos of the untranslateability of the Hebrew language on the grounds of its magical function43. which showed that they were merely artiﬁcial delusions.

Reuchlin. Platonic. 174. kabbalistic and magical “theses” next to one another and. from a Jewish perspective—that the “Lawgiver” Moses was initiated in Egyptian magic as well: ‘Moses. Das esoterische Aegypten. by discarding the Jewish-Christian distinction between Egypt and Israel. but a magical Judaism against a Pauline Christianity. It was Reuchlin’s student Heinrich Cornelius Agrippa von Nettesheim who located the Mosaic magic of the Name. The conditions that made it possible to see Moses as an Egyptian magician were created by what can be called the syncretism of the Renaissance. to strengthen his lies and sorcery48 . However. Hebraeorum legislator ac princeps. 602. If anything is attained by them. Orphic. within a more comprehensive system of magic that had one of its origins in Egypt. In sum: a Jew is so full of idolatry and sorcery as nine cows have hairs.
So whereas Pico in his Oratio and. neoplatonic. Cf. by compiling various cultural codes and religious systems. thereby leading the new perspective of the non-Jewish
48 49 50 51 52
Luther. the connection with the Egyptian symbolic system still remained merely implicit. innumerable and endless. which according to his terminology should be described as magia ceremonialis. it is not God’s but the devil’s work. is full of lies49. De occulta philosophia. Moses was thereby removed from the Jewish-Christian tradition and formally made into an Egyptian again50. create a new whole. in Aegypto magia imbutus’52. on the basis of an Egyptian-Mosaic distinction. Luther does not oppose a magical Egypt against a monotheist Israel. Cf. 19-26. their god. 594. Giordano Bruno’s Kabbalah systematised this hermetic fusion of Egyptian and Jewish culture. the Conclusiones magicae nr.. . Unlike Reuchlin. It was from such a perspective that Pico considered the connection between magic and Kabbalah51. Agrippa. Aristotelian-scholastic.
. Pico’s Conclusiones are one of the earliest attempts to place Pythagorean. Within the latin Kabbalah of early modernity the ﬁgure of Moses the magician could be conceptualized even far more radically than had been done by Reuchlin with his Mosaic theology of names: that is to say. Persian. Werke. consider the Mosaic magic of the Name possible even within Christian theology. . In the De occulta philosophia (1533) he remarked—and in this lies the actual transgression of the taboo. Hornung. that is to say. most of all.MOSES AS MAGICIAN
161
That is why there is no inherent power [in letters]. just like the devil. Ibid. but they are merely empty feeble letters. such an option was not possible within the hermeneutical framework of the Reformation.

which as speciﬁc ideas and forces of nature may all be traced back to the one Godhead of Godheads. la cui sapienza (qualumque la sia in suo geno) é proceduta da gl’Egittij. whatever may be its nature. II. . Moses is dependent on Hermes Trismegistus. le quali come diuerse idee. 211-234. Giordano Bruno. rather. This seems to have been the starting point of the Hebrew kabbalah. Cf. To start with esoteric Freemasonry. That made Moses into an Egyptian again. erano diuersi numi nella natura. that reigns over nature. Bruno wanted to introduce Copernican-Egyptian heliocentricism as a hermetic reform in England. as they had been for Reuchlin. ‘Pero la diuinitate [ .
53 54
. 533. this interpretation of the Kabbalah emerged from the new and singular angle of a hermetic remythologisation of copernicanism. This reinterpretation of the esoteric Nachrichtentheorie—the origin of the tradition being no longer the Moses of Sinai but the Moses of Egypt—is characteristic of early modern esotericism and hermeticism. Kilcher.
Bruno relocated the origin of knowledge in a cabala aegyptiana. deﬁnitely stems from the Egyptians by whom Moses was instructed54. the wisdom of which. ] diuersamente in ciascuna de le altere specie. especially in esoterically oriented Freemasonry and—of particular interest here—in alchemical and magical literature. . the primal source of all ideas. . Yates. and the Kabbalah is therefore of Egyptian origin. Paris 1584. ] Da questo parmi che deriua quella Cabala de gl’ Hebrei. Even though he understood the Kabbalah to be the original and secret Mosaic knowledge. about which Claude Duret and Athanasius Kircher would later speak as well55. Examples may be found in the esoteric literature of the modern era right into the 18th and 19th century. then usually as an Egyptian knowledge that had been transferred to Moses. I quote from the edition Le opere italiane. When secret knowledge was determined genealogically. 55 Cf. . Die Sprachtheorie der Kabbala. one may read:
That is why the Godhead . Spaccio della bestia trionfante. Pythagoras and Plato are not inheritors of Kabbalah. KILCHER
reception of Kabbalah in the Renaissance to an extreme53: he generalised Agrippa’s “taboo transgression”. in that he was in fact no longer interested in a Christian interpretation of the Kabbalah. appresso de quali fu instrutto Mose’. [ . . as argued by Frances Yates. . le quali tutti si referiuano ad un nume et fonte de le Idee sopra la natura. .162
ANDREAS B. According to Bruno’s hermetic genealogy. was honoured by several other names. the dialogue by which. Giordano Bruno. . Bruno. vol. who could once more be a magician. In Lo spaccio della bestia trionfante (1584). . to which the categories of the arcanum and
Yates. The original wisdom is not Hebrew but Egyptian: the Hebrew is derived from the latter.

The contents of Moses’ Testament are evident already from the complete title: rather than with a Christological
56 57
Reinhold. Die Hebräischen Mysterien. rather. as part of an unconventional Sammlung von einigen alten und sehr rar gewordenen philosophischen und alchemistischen Schriften (A collection of some old and now very rare philosophical and alchemical texts). in the Egyptian tradition. and especially to the oral ‘secret revelation’ of the Kabbalah. including the kabbalistic one:
I could here appeal to those systems that trace the actual sciences of our Order back to the Hebrews.
. but in Moses’s more ancient Egyptian knowledge: ‘The Israelites came out of Egypt. has its origin not necessarily in the revelation on Sinai but. Reinhold considers various mythical genealogies of Freemasonry. 22. the latter is central to literature on alchemy and magic. by mediation of the latter. the homeland of mysteries. The alchemist Hermann Fictuld (alias Johann Heinrich Schmidt) articulated the thesis in Moses’ name. that—apart from the aforementioned bible—also assume an oral revelation given to Moses and the 70 elders at Sinai. and that know how to use the Hebrew Adam Kadmon. that try to locate our secrets by means of the thirteen rules of kabbalah in the ancient text of the bible. he introduces a variation on the classical masonic foundation-myth. For he emphasizes that the Hebrew secret knowledge of the Kabbalah ﬁnds its roots not so much in the revelation on Sinai. Fictuld claimed to have translated his book Moses’ Testament from the original Hebrew.MOSES AS MAGICIAN
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initiation are of central importance: it frequently claims to be the true continuation of the kabbalistic tradition. However. puriﬁed by means of some procedures of Christian mysticism. however.. according to which Masonry ‘is related to’ the ‘sciences of the Hebrews’. Rather. The Masonic concept of the Egyptian origins of the kabbalist chain of tradition is hardly concerned with magic though. of Freud’s Moses as well. their lawgiver had been instructed in all the wisdom and science of this land and most likely had been initiated into its mysteries’57. writing in the ﬁrst person.
So Reinhold here sketches the media-theoretical option of a reducing Freemasonry to the kabbalist news chain. Ibid. whose book Die Hebräischen Mysterien oder die älteste religiöse Freymaurery (1788) Jan Assmann has shown to be a source of Schiller’s lecture on Die Sendung Moses and. One example is the Viennese Kantian and Freemason Carl Leonhard Reinhold. 21f. The latter. as a key to all secret theoretical and practical sciences of nature56. it was printed in 1771.

‘Fürstliche und Monarchische Rosen von Jericho. Das ist: Moses Testament. that is to say. as the treasure of all treasures’59. science and arts’58. signiﬁcantly subtitled ‘The Holy Wisdom and Science of the Creation and the Creatures’61. the fact that Moses ‘was trained and taught in all the Egyptian wisdom. und dem Israel zum Guten im Geﬁlde Moab am Berg Nebo im Thal gegen Peor und Jericho geschrieben hat (Moses’ testament and gift of the arts and sciences that he learned at the Pharaoh’s court in Egypt. die er am Hof Pharao in Egypten erlernet. we are dealing with an Egyptian legacy. The presence of a Mosaic paradigm of Egyptian secret knowledge and magic in Paracelsian discourse is documented in numerous texts from the 17th to the 19th centuries. Physica Mosaica.164
ANDREAS B. accordingly. Kozak. Examples from the 17th century are Robert Fludd‘s Philosophia Moysaica (1638). 336. also Rosenbach. KILCHER
reinterpretation of the ﬁgure of Moses. The text itself. however.
. Faced with his own approaching death. 62 Cf. Hence Moses’ Egyptian testament turns out to be a paracelsian-alchemical translation and reformulation of the biblical creation story. 1623). secret Egyptian knowledge. From a historical perspective one would have to say that it consists of the hermetic. Hence the text promises no less than conveying ‘the greatest mystery of the Egyptians. also p. Cf. Moses Omniscius.. magical-alchemical Naturphilosophie.. of Genesis. The question then remains in what this Egyptian knowledge consists. Philosophia Moysaica. 323. 61 Fludd. 59 Ibid. . written in a Rosicrucian and Paracelsian style and terminology. Aus dem Hebräischen in das Deutsche gebracht und zum Druck befördert durch Hermann Fictuld [1760]’. The condition that made it possible for the Mosaic religion to be founded was. claims to present a much more primordial magia naturalis: the one of the “Book of Creation”60. 60 Ibid. und Vergabung der Künsten und Wissenschaften. die er am Hof Pharao und in Egypten erlernet . Moses thoughts went back to his original. and written by him for the beneﬁt of Israel in the ﬁeld of Moab near the mountain of Nebo in the valley against Peor and Jericho). 330. the title page of which features a copperplate illustration of a beaming Moses heaving the ﬁrmament62. . The transformation of Moses into a paracelsian and alchemical lawgiver according to an Egyptian model is also the essential focus of a treatise
58 [Hermann Fictuld]. and also Jacob Böhme’s Mysterium Magnum oder Erklärung über das Erste Buch Mosis (Mysterium Magnum or Explanation of the First Book of Moses. 321. Moses’ Testament und Vergabung der Künsten und Wissenschafften. or so it is suggested.

and ground the powder and threw it on the water. on the contrary.
63 The most important source is the alchemical treatise Aesch Mezareph. This. by means of the kabbalistic ﬁre [has] not only ground the gold of the golden calf/dusted it onto water/and given it to the children of Israel to drink/but by these means also increased it in strength/. and gave it the people of Israel to drink’. Kilcher.und Rosenkreuzer. an Aurum potabilum Mosis was created. punished by Moses by destroying it. but which also possessed magical powers that were used by Moses. Cf. Referring to Exodus 32:20. 180. This alchemical treatise. in which Moses and Aaron were both involved. furthermore/to perform other great miracles in nature64. ‘Alchemie und Kabbala’. (Moses’ golden calf/along with the magical—astral—philosophical—and especially the kabbalistic ﬁre/by means of which Moses/the man of God/ground this golden calf to powder/dusted it on water/and gave it to the Children of Israel to drink). The second and ultimate stage of transformation was undertaken by Moses. ‘Cabala chymica’. it was an alchemical/magical process of creating gold of the most sublime and magically most potent kind. Moses’ güldenes Kalb. thereby already creating a more powerful and sublime kind of gold. By means of this “kabbalistic ﬁre”. ‘Der Mann Gottes/Moses.MOSES AS MAGICIAN
165
by Lambert Alard published in 1722: Moses’ güldenes Kalb/nebst dem magischem—astralischem—philosophischem—absonderlich dem cabalistischem Feuer/Vermittelst welchem letzterem Moses/der Mann Gottes/dieses güldenes Kalb zu Pulver zermalmet/auffs Wasser gestäubet/und den Kindern Israel zu trincken gegeben. wished it to be so/had the capacity/hereby to change/not only all other metals into the best kind of gold/but also. 64 [Lambert Alard]. Aaron melted the jewellery of the Israelite women to make of it the golden calf. in any case. interprets the creation and worship of the Golden Calf—presented in the Bible as a regression of the Israelites into an Egyptian and pre-monotheistic cult of animal worship (Ex 32:1-35)— as an alchemical process. In a ﬁrst stage of transformation. in line with older Christian kabbalist literature63:
The man of God/Moses. [hat] durch das
. and melted it down in a ﬁre. the creation of the statue was not at all a sin. Fictuld writes that Moses ‘took the calf which they had made. is how Lambert Alard’s treatise explains the biblical passage. a most potent “tincture” which not only could be employed for all alchemical processes of metallic puriﬁcation. Accordingly.virtue and power. belonging to the milieu of the Gold. so much/that it not only could accomplish/corresponding wondrous cures among the Israelites/but also/when required/and when the man of God/Moses. printed in Christian Knorr von Rosenroths Kabbala Denudata (1677-84). Scholem.

Schiller. 1790) also. But here a demarcation was necessary with respect to Schiller. vol. who saw Die Sendung Mosis (Moses’ mission. and recovered for himself. once more gave Moses the ‘appearance of a magician’ (as declared in his programmatic preface). as a secret possession. . in his drama about the ‘man Moses’.
Thus the magical/Egyptian Moses is cautiously introduced into Romantic literature. which presented themselves as new and secret books of Moses. Against the latter. II. Cf. inspired seer [who] by his fervent research rediscovered the higher meaning of the hieroglyphs. in which appears the Name of he who orders everything66. Much less reserved. . these writings were intended for a readership belonging to esoteric circles rather than for public scholars. that profound science of nature by means of which he was later able to work such extraordinary wonders65. (= XIII. Pico. Moses zu Tanis. (‘Vorerinnerung’). . and in particular. Moses. 732ff. in contrast. 120f. he consciously put himself in opposition against ‘the great German master’. there is a fragment titled Moses’ Secret Eighth Book or Moses’ Secret Book of the Great Name that is good for all purposes. and were close to popular magical literature. Reuchlin and Agrippa. would be a sin against the holy spirit of poetry. If August Klingemann. The idea that there are more than only ﬁve “Books of Moses” can be found in magical literature since late antiquity. in terms of a liberation from the Egyptian mysteries. KILCHER
Moses again appears as a magician in the literature of Romanticism. . . 65 Klingemann.166
ANDREAS B. Ixf. he holds that
a poetic portrayal of Moses without the miracles mentioned in the ancient document. that is to say. armed with which he presents himself as lawgiver and religion-founder. 66 Papyri Graecae Magicae. Already among the Greek magical papyri. Harring.g. This myth of the existence of secret Mosaic books containing magical information was repeatedly taken up even as late as the 18th and 19th
Cabalistische Feuer das Gold des güldenen Kalbes nicht allein zermalmet/aufs Wasser gestäubet/und denen Kindern Israel zu trincken gegeben/sondern auch hierdurch dasselbe in seiner Krafft/Tugend und Würckung dergestalt erhöhet/daß es dergleichen Wunder-Curen bey denen Israeliten/nicht allein hat verrichten können/sondern auch/auf erforderndem Fall/und wann es dem Mann Gottes/dem Mose. gefallen/dieses Vermögen gehabt/daß er hierdurch/nicht allein die übrigen Metallen zum besten Golde hat verwandeln/sondern auch noch darüber/viele andere große Wunder mehr in der Natur hat verrichten können’. Cf. also Schächter.)
. Contrary to those of e. Moses appears in his most exalted role as an . Moses in der deutschen Dichtung. after Schiller’s verdict and in opposition to it. was the restitution of a Mosaic magic of names within a particular genre of esoteric writings around 1800.

. beinhaltend Sämtliche 40 Hauptwerke über Magie. das neunte. 584ff. 811ff. Peuckert. das sechste. the seventh. das zehnte und das elfte. In early modernity. Offenbarungen aus den Büchern Moses. and reprinted several times since then68. this. Das Geheimnis aller Geheimnisse. the Sixth and Seventh Liber Mosis was outdone by a collection of magical treatises with the baroque title Das Buch Jezira. das achte. Kabbala denudata.
67
. in sich begreifend die aufgefundenen Geheimnisbücher Mosis oder des Juden Abraham von Worms Buch der wahren Praktik in der uralten göttlichen Magie (The Egyptian great revelations.MOSES AS MAGICIAN
167
centuries. it was still easier to integrate the magical within the domain of ofﬁcial knowledge than has been the case after the Enlightenment. Kabbala denudata. 69 Das sechste und siebente Buch Mosis. the ninth. at least. Aus ältesten kabbalistischen Urkunden. In 1725 a book was published in Cologne with the title Die egyptischen großen Offenbarungen. Das große Buch der Bücher Moses. Likewise in the “Age of Reason”. verborgene Kräfte und geheime Wissenschaften (The Book Jezira. ‘Moses. the tenth and the eleventh. das siebente. of Moses the magician within the imaginary esoteric library of books about Moses hardly seems to ﬁt our concepts of modernity. Since then—with
Abraham von Worms. 68 Cf.. containing all in all 40 major works about magic. ‘Der Jude als Zauberer’. containing the newly found books of secrets of Moses or the Jew Abraham of Worms’ Book of the true practice in the ur-ancient divine magic)67. das sechste und siebente Buch’. it takes up the tradition of magical incantatory texts and books of sorcery and legitimises them as original and secret Mosaic knowledge: ‘These two books were revealed by God Almighty to his loyal servant Moses on Mount Sinai intervalle lucis . 123-148. however. Das Buch der wahren Praktik in der göttlichen Magie. a so-called Sixth and Seventh Liber Mosis was advertised for sale in the Allgemeinen literarischen Anzeiger. Even as late as just before 1900. Peuckert. Over against the possibly regressive remythologisation of religion stands its progressive natural philosophical reinterpretation in terms of the paradigm of Moses the Egyptian magician. together with the trivialisation. that is. Repr. that is. as Bibliis arcanorum arcanorum.. the sixth. The Secret of all Secrets. ‘Das “Sechste und siebente Buch Mosis”’. in the year 1797. Revelations from the Books of Moses. . Peuckert. The great Book of Books of Moses. was the situation in the 16th and 17th centuries. From the most ancient kabbalistic documents. The hypertrophy. secrets of all secrets’69. the eight. hidden powers and secret sciences). das ist. Die egyptischen grossen Offenbarungen. Actually published in 1849.

her book is a valuable compendium of sources which require examination in considering the intellectual milieu of early Freemasonry. 207. She has shown great persistence in trawling through a huge range of materials to produce a formidable catalogue of references which she suggests reﬂect the inﬂuence of ‘Cabalistic. These traditions according to Schuchard found a receptive home in Scotland. 214) without thoroughly substantiating this claim. 6). It is only after some extended discussion of James as a “Mason King” that the source for the statement that he was a Freemason is ﬁnally discussed (p. it is surprising that she declares that King James was an initiate of Scottish Freemasonry at least four times (pp. At the end of the day. If the Stuarts are to be seen as the heirs of an ancient Cabalistic tradition which became fused with Freemasonry. 237). xii). progressive and cultured: ‘not the monsters of religious intolerance so often painted in academic and popular writing in English’ (p. At almost every point. For Schuchard. 69. Schuchard argues that after the disaster of 1688. Schuchard’s narrative is marred by excessive credulity and a lack of critical rigour. it is essential that they themselves should have been Freemasons. the pivotal ﬁgure was King James VI and I. however. Rosicrucian. initiated as a Freemason. She proposes that Jewish building guilds preserved mystical ideas dating back to the time of King Solomon. Scandanavia and Europe’ (p. Schuchard rightly feels that most interpretations of British history are still far too Anglo-centric and rooted in the myth of Protestant progress and toleration promoted by the victors of 1688. 47. the book is fundamentally ﬂawed. the “Celtic-CatholicJewish” values of the Stuarts were preserved abroad in the secret enclaves of Écossais Freemasonry. She portrays the Stuart kings. It is impossible without writing another book thoroughly to document these problems. where they became fused with Scottish national myths and were actively promoted by the Stuart kings. and particularly James VI of Scotland and I of England and Charles I.172
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Stuart court culture. Schuchard’s energy and thoroughness must be admired.and nineteenth-century occultist Freemasonry in Britain. The present volume forms. she asserts. which goes to the heart of Schuchard’s argument. and Schuchard’s argument unpersuasive. Regardless of one’s opinion of Schuchard’s thesis. in Schuchard’s words. as tolerant. In view of the importance of this point for Schuchard’s argument. Schuchard evidently plans a vast anti-Whig history of the world. ‘a prolegomena to future works on eighteenth. which they transmitted to medieval European stonemasons and the Templars. This reveals that the only seventeenth-century
. who was. so I will concentrate on one example. Templar and Swedenborgian Masonry’.

This agreement was drawn up in 1658. First Freemasons.
3
Stevenson. who would soon work for James’s grandson Charles II’ (p. Masons seeking royal patronage are more. and James had other familiar servants. 215-6). The distant possibility of work from Charles II in the event of a restoration did not after all discourage the Perth masons from spuriously claiming that members of the Mylne family had served the crown. This is a very ﬂimsy argument. we cannot assume that the craftsmen in question were masons and that Schaw was involved. and is a very suspect source. it is easy to forget that there were other crafts. Stevenson comments that: ‘the fact that the assertion that James VI entered the lodge occurs in a passage creating the fabulous history of the Mylnes. 237 n. The introduction to the agreement sought to substantiate the claims of this lodge to be the second oldest in Scotland. likely to invent royal connections. The only other substantive point made by Schuchard in support of her claim that James was a Freemason (apart from a reference to the legendary history of Freemasonry compiled in the eighteenth century by James Anderson) is a statement that James encouraged ‘some of the deacons and craftsmen of Edinburgh’ to threaten rebellion in order to prevent a scheme to marry him to Princess Anne of Denmark (pp. Schuchard ﬁnally enters the realm of fantasy. not less. Without further evidence. there were of course many other crafts in Edinburgh. makes the story of James VI’s initiation implausible’3. stating that ‘I see no reason to reject the assertion of the Perth Masons. 101-3. David Stevenson’s judicious analysis of this document concludes that its introduction contains ‘as much mythology as fact’. She simply brushes aside Stevenson’s doubts. quite apart from other considerations. In adding a further hypothesis to this suspect series of assumptions and claiming that James was perhaps relying on Schaw and his fellow craftsmen to help him in secret and difﬁcult diplomatic affairs.
. This is an example of the tunnel vision which is a danger in studying the history of Freemasonry. Schuchard does not produce any new evidence or arguments to counter Stevenson’s conclusion that James VI and I was not a Freemason. 200). It falsely alleges that two members of the Mylne family were master masons to the Scottish king.STUART FREEMASONRY
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source to report that James was a Freemason is an elaborate rhetorical prologue to an agreement made between members of the Lodge of Scone at Perth. However. On the speciﬁc issue of King James’s initiation. more than ﬁfty years after the alleged initiation. Schuchard assumes that these craftsmen were the masons and that the “familiar servant” used in communications with them was probably Schaw.

362. since she fails to put forward any solid evidence that Charles I. Schuchard again produces no satisfactory evidence that he was a Freemason. was sympathetic to courtiers with Rosicrucian interests. 586). Particularly unsatisfactory is her treatment of Charles I. Charles is simply assumed by Schuchard to have had Masonic interests because he undertook architectural projects. since Moray says that Charles may do what he wants with him. Origins of Freemasonry. 404. This is history by insinuation. As far as Charles II is concerned. 373). and eventually as a ‘Masonic Martyr’ (with Nicholas Bonneville’s preposterous claim that Scottish Rite rituals were based on the scene of Charles I’s execution being repeated in earnest on p. She relies on Anderson and on an oral tradition among French Freemasons. While Schuchard is happy to accept Anderson’s claim that Charles I and Charles II were Freemasons. 491). If James VI and I was not a Freemason. ‘as a master builder doth with his materials’4. but (as far as I can ﬁnd) the only evidence cited by Schuchard that Charles was a Freemason is a statement by the notoriously untrustworthy Anderson. 373. The fact that Charles sometimes used a peculiar looking symbol to sign letters could possibly mean that he was familiar with Masonic symbolism (p. Nowhere does Schuchard ﬁnd an explicit. then Schuchard’s elaborate house of cards collapses. 415. disguised as history based on evidence. 489-90). but there are many other equally feasible explanations. Charles is repeatedly described as a ‘Mason King’ (pp. But this sentence could simply be a desperate man searching for a forceful metaphor. reliable and contemporary statement that Charles II was a Freemason—nor does she ﬁnd any convincing circumstantial evidence. 176.174
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These are very ﬂimsy foundations on which to build a huge book. and a second-hand report of
4
Stevenson. There is a single sentence in a letter from the enthusiastic Scottish Freemason Sir Robert Moray to Charles denying charges of treason which might possibly be interpreted as a reference to Freemasonry. writing one hundred years later (p. 490). and had as king to concern himself with aspects of the regulation of the trade of stonemasonry in Scotland. 723-4). Charles II or James II were Freemasons. and is a tenuous basis on which to claim Charles II as a Freemason. The evidence she cites to show that James was a Freemason is again unsatisfactory: a claim in an eighteenth-century ritual that a close friend of James was a head of a secret Masonic order. apparently only ﬁrst reported some centuries later (pp.
. she inconsistently rejects his statement that James VII and II was not a Freemason (pp.

Sir Alexander Fraser. for example. such as family traditions or reports made many years later. but never provides any supporting evidence of membership. Schuchard uses this dubious evidence to suggest that Monk employed Masonic networks to facilitate the restoration of Charles II. In other cases.STUART FREEMASONRY
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a statement attributed to Bonnie Prince Charlie that the secret Grand Mastership of the Masons was hereditary to the House of Stuart. Having thus established to her satisfaction that James was a Freemason. General Monk is claimed as a Freemason on the basis of a statement made by Andrew Ramsay in 1741.’. to see how Laud’s sermon on the text. and probably are not present. 509. Schuchard’s analysis of the literary material which embodies what she describes as the Cabalistic Freemasonry associated with the Stuarts also suffers from a lack of precision and insufﬁciently rigorous categorisation. and indeed got Fraser’s christian name wrong (if it was Sir Alexander that he meant) (pp. ‘Pray for the peace of Jerusalem. such as Sir William Davidson. and there is no need to rely on coincidences or hoary legends in identifying members of Scottish lodges. is said to have been a Freemason on the basis of ‘an eighteenth-century document’ which turns out to be by Baron von Starck. 582). and likely particularly to please the London Company of Masons. Schuchard admits. . can be interpreted as Masonic. The work of David Stevenson and his student Lisa Kahler has shown how records survive which allow the membership of early Scottish Masonic lodges to be analysed very precisely. ‘was often inaccurate or confused’. Charles II’s Scottish physician. Thus. Although the guilds. let them prosper that love thee. 510). Schuchard assumes that they were Freemasons and talks of their involvement in Masonic networks. . Schuchard’s cavalier approach to her evidence means that she exaggerates the number of Freemasons in court circles. simply because it refers to walls (pp. Schuchard plucks a date out of the air for his initiation. it might still be argued that she has assembled sufﬁcient evidence to show that the Stuart court was permeated by Freemasonry. suggesting that it took place between 1649 and 1660. The 2nd Duke of Buckingham is claimed as an ‘old Mason’ solely on the basis of a reference in Anderson (p. merely because he worked closely with military engineers at that time. 337-8). Time and time again Schuchard claims individuals as Freemasons on the basis of unreliable or unsafe evidence. a hundred years after the event (p. and it is difﬁcult to form from her account an accurate impression of the inﬂuence of Freemasonry on court culture. Peace be within thy walls . Schuchard tends to see esoteric Masonic inﬂuences where none are immediately evident. 575). It is difﬁcult. for example. Even if Schuchard’s claim that the Stuart kings were Freemasons is rejected. who.
. However.

Schuchard has a fondness for suggesting that unlikely coincidences are in some way signiﬁcant. impact Scottish Freemasonry had in all these areas in the seventeenth century. if any. but it is impossible from the passage quoted to see anything which might connect it with any Masonic ideas (p. This is evident in her discussion of the fraternal organisations reported among courtiers of James VI and I (pp. it also seems unlikely that Knox’s 1560 sermon on the need to re-build the House of God can be interpreted as referring to the Masons because of its play with the metaphors of wood and stone (p. to say the least (p. She is prone to assume that any fraternal organisation with a secret sign or legendary history is Masonic in its inspiration or inﬂuence. Schuchard is prone to assume that any reference to King Solomon or his Temple reﬂects the inﬂuence of “Cabalistic Freemasonry”. This phenomenon has recently been authoritatively analysed in a fundamental monograph by Peter Clark5. naturally viewed the Protestantism of John Knox with suspicion. Schuchard’s deﬁnition of Freemasonry is so wide-ranging that she fails to establish convincing lines of descent between the various traditions to which she points.176
ANDREW PRESCOTT
with their religious festivals and celebrations. it is essential to bear in mind that there was an upsurge in the formation of fraternal clubs and societies in seventeenth. British Clubs and Societies. Similarly.
. There can be no doubt that the 1618 epitaph on the working Freemason John Stone relates to Masonry. Above all. At times. which is surprisingly omitted from Schuchard’s bibliography. to interpret passing references by James VI and I to a Pythagorean silence and an apprenticeship as Masonic is over-enthusiastic. 243).and eighteenth-century Britain. 167). In order to interpret these references. as for example in her claim that the use of theatrical settings by Scottish Rite masons in America the late nineteenth century
5
Clark. but it is again difﬁcult to see how its banal references to ‘our great corner stone’ who loved ‘to build God’s Temples’ suggest ‘an infusion of Scottish traditions of Solomonic-Hebraic masonry’ (pp. of which the growth of Freemasonry was simply one facet. 459). Rosicrucianism and architecture. Much more rigorous analysis of these materials is necessary to establish what. 353-4). 330-1). Thus she quotes the description of the building of Solomon’s Temple from Abraham Cowley’s poem Davideis. his temple. the book degenerates into a catalogue of seventeenth-century literary references to King Solomon. but none of these themes were the exclusive preserve of Freemasons and it is very dangerous to assume that every reference to King Solomon or Hiram of Tyre reveals the inﬂuence of a single hidden tradition.

Henry instituted a huge programme of military fortiﬁcation. ‘Spectacle and Power’.STUART FREEMASONRY
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reﬂects the origin of this ritual in Stuart masques (p. St James’s. recent detailed work on the history of relevant rituals. 31. Cressy. suggest a picture wholly different to that offered by Schuchard. Moreover. Guide and Gazeteer. Above all. This can be seen most strikingly in her treatment of Henry VIII and Elizabeth I. Naturally. Greenwich. such as that by Dr Jan Snoek presented at recent conferences in Canonbury and Kirkcaldy. awaiting the arrival of the Queen of Sheba. As strong a case could be made for Henry VIII as a ‘Mason
6 7 8
Airs. Nonsuch and Whitehall was immense. 5). However. As Henry grew older. Schuchard argues that both these monarchs neglected building and architecture. in the Royal Library at Windsor. This needs to take into account the fact that these rituals will have changed and developed in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries. William Cure of Amsterdam and Giles Gerig7.
. foreign artists and craftsmen were keen to work for such a lavish patron. This makes the lack of any thorough discussion of ritual by Scuchard particularly disappointing. Henry took pains to ensure that these Solomonic ideas of kingship were transmitted to his son8. Guide and Gazeteer. complete with altered text from 2 Chronicles. Henry’s expenditure on royal palaces such as Bridewell. much more rigorous analysis of the development of the rituals of Écossais Freemasonry is necessary than that offered by Schuchard. he increasingly identiﬁed himself with Solomon. as is vividly illustrated by Holbein’s 1534-5 picture of Henry as Solomon. She suggests that the destruction of the monasteries under Henry VIII created a rift between Henry and the masons. In order to establish such a descent. Airs. and among the foreigners used by Henry in decorating for example Nonsuch Palace were Belin of Modena. Henry VIII was probably one of the most energetic and spendthrift builders in the history of the English monarchy. Schuchard introduces distortions which are just as serious as those which she seeks to correct. taking a close personal interest in the technical issues associated with these buildings. The patronage of architecture and the craft of masonry by the monarchy in Scotland was in her view intended deliberately to create a counterweight to the anti-architectural activities of the Tudors and to provide a direct expression of Solomonic (and thus in her interpretation Masonic) ideas of kingship. Signiﬁcantly. and states that foreign stonemasons were unwilling to work for Henry after the Reformation. with an appetite for building described by Malcolm Airs as ‘truly voracious’6. 32. In presenting a history to counter the Whig interpretation of Macaulay and other Victorian historians.

Condover Hall in Shropshire. Hoskins. vii. It would be difﬁcult to guess from Schuchard’s account that Elizabeth’s reign falls in the period between 1570 and 1640 famously described by the historian W. the main charge has been not that Hoskins was inaccurate in suggesting that there was an enormous upsurge in building during Elizabeth’s reign. 1. Colin Platt nevertheless accepts and endorses Hoskins’s general conclusion that ‘from Cornwall to Lancashire. disturbed only by the disruptions of the civil war10. Montacute House. and Kirby Hall in Northamptonshire. This is all the more surprising since Schuchard quotes from Mark Girouard’s biography of
9 10
Hoskins. Wollaton Hall in Nottinghamshire. Longleat. such as Hardwick Hall. In his recent book arguing that there was a second Great Rebuilding in the late seventeenth century. Professor Platt concludes that ‘Professor Hoskins’ original Great Rebuilding is still persuasive’. and certainly in searching for the origins of the Stuart interest in Solomonic imagery. However. Schuchard quotes approvingly John Aubrey’s comment that under Elizabeth I ‘Architecture made no growth: but rather went backwards’. The handful of quotes which Schuchard gives from modern architectural historians such as Malcolm Airs or Mark Girouard to support her view of the moribund state of Elizabethan building are selective and used in a misleading way. Chatsworth. ‘Rebuilding of Tudor and Stuart England’. Burghley House. which can be plausibly seen as a further “Great Rebuilding”. she largely relies on later Masonic sources and gives prominence to the claim by Anderson that Elizabeth broke up an assembly of Freemasons in York in 1561 (p. and from Herefordshire across to Suffolk.G. and paints a picture of vigorous building activity in England between 1550 and 1700. Great Rebuildings. Hoskins as ‘The Great Rebuilding’9. ‘The Great Rebuilding’.and nineteenthcentury romantic fantasies about the Templars. the evidence for the Great Rebuilding between 1570 and 1640 is abundant and inescapable’. While Schuchard makes the inevitable references to Thomas Tresham’s building work in Northamptonshire with its intriguing numerological and religious symbolism. 170).178
ANDREW PRESCOTT
King’ as that put forward by Schuchard for the Stuarts.
. Platt. a story for which there is no independent corroboration. she fails to mention any of the large-scale country house projects of Elizabeth’s reign. Although Hoskins’s thesis of a “Great Rebuilding” between 1570 and 1640 has been criticised for its broadbrush approach and narrow date range. in substantiating this view. but rather that he neglected the extensive building activity after the civil war. it would be more fruitful to start with Henry VIII than eighteenth.

Tudor and Jacobean House. freemason’12. It is inevitable that in covering a period from Solomon to the end of the middle ages in just over a hundred pages. Robert Smythson. who was described in a letter of introduction given to him by Sir Humphrey Lovell. as ‘Robert Smytheson. Airs. her stress on the Jewish contribution gives an over-simplistic view of the complex processes. in the Elizabethan court. Thus. 40. allegory and fantasy’14. involving interchange between the Latin Christian. by craftsmen such as Smythson. Airs. by which ideas were transmitted from the ancient period to the early middle ages. ‘architecture became a fashionable talking point’ with courtiers ‘intensely interested in each other’s buildings’13. 246) to Airs’s comment that Elizabethan patrons did not concern themselves greatly with the details of building plans in order to give the impression that there was little interest in building among the Elizabethan gentry. Robert Smythson. However. architecture became a matter of passionate interest and social rivalry. 4-5. Tudor and Jacobean House. Schuchard similarly misrepresents the work of Malcolm Airs.
. Girouard was here concerned to make a completely different point. Orthodox. her claim that the idea of the guild originated with Jewish masons underestimates the signiﬁcance of other fraternal organisations of the Roman Empire. It is strange that the extraordinary mass of information about the organisation of medieval stonemasons assembled by Douglas Knoop and Gwilym
11 12 13 14
Girouard. Airs argues that. While Schuchard performs a valuable service in stressing the importance of early Jewish building guilds. The blurb for Airs’ 1995 volume sums up his conclusions more accurately: ‘stimulated by the Elizabethan Court. She refers (p. 171). Elizabeth I’s master mason. This seems a better starting point than Aubrey. It also assumes a stricter division between craft guild and religious fraternity in medieval Europe than was in fact the case. Schuchard quotes Girouard to the effect that the Elizabethan period did not have any architects. the ﬁrst section of the book also contains distortions. but again these seem greater than those necessarily introduced by compression. characterized by symbolism. the authority on the Tudor and Jacobean country house. Muslim and Jewish communities. as in the middle ages. In fact.STUART FREEMASONRY
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Robert Smythson11. Girouard. namely that the work of designing and building Elizabethan houses such as Hardwick was still undertaken. and uses this to give the impression that the building industry was moribund. the mason who supervised the building of some of these houses (p.

Schuchard states that ‘As he [Edward] subdued Wales.P. but. there were already castles in existence and no need to build them. This is surprising since the Welsh gentry had strong Jacobite sympathies. Lincoln and Nottingham. which
Knoop and Jones. she seems to imagine that Britain consists exclusively of England and Scotland.180
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Jones in their monograph on The Medieval Mason has still not been fully absorbed by scholars of Freemasonry15. 98). The Mediæval Mason. the work on the castles was extended over very long periods. ‘Jacobites and Freemasons’. the ﬁrst building work was undertaken by masons drawn from Leicester. Schuchard is critical of those historians who are excessively Anglo-centric in their view. ‘King’s Work’s in Wales’. The fact that a large castle building programme was undertaken in Wales but not in Scotland is more easily explained by Colvin’s argument that. like many recent scholars who profess to be writing a more truly British history. The director of this building programme was identiﬁed by Taylor as the Savoyard Master James of St George. than by Schuchard’s suggeation (p. recycling instead tired speculation about the Templars which mostly does not bear scrutiny. There is little sense in replacing Anglo-centrism with an Anglo-Scottish (and too often Anglo-Lowland Scot) centrism. his Master of Works impressed Welsh masons—under threat of arrest—to not only build the conqueror’s castles but to assist the subsequent advance of the English army into Scotland’. Wiltshire and Bristol. Stonemasons and many other craftsmen were recruited from all over England to undertake the work. for the initial work on Aberystwyth Castle. with demand for masons and other craftsmen ﬂuctuating. 88) that it reﬂected difﬁculty in recruiting Scottish masons to undertake building work for the English kings. sheriffs were ordered to impress masons from Somerset. Even more surprising than the cursory treatment of Wales is the lack of any substantial discussion of Ireland. This is an omission Schuchard might perhaps repair in future studies. If there was a strong connection between Freemasonry and Jacobitism. because Scotland was already a feudalised country. The masons were ordered to assemble in Bristol. referring to him as a primary source for the middle ages is positively reckless (p. and Schuchard also fails to make use of this work.
15 16
. The only substantial mention of Wales comprises inaccurate statements about the building of Edward I’s castles there16. 17 Jenkins. Jenkins in an article in the Welsh History Review as long ago as 1979. so that it is impossible to make pat statements about who built the castles. one might anticipate that the themes discussed by Schuchard would ﬁgure strongly in Welsh history. This is a complete travesty. Taylor of the complex logistical operations required to build Edward I’s Welsh castles will show: Taylor. Dorset. as Taylor’s work amply shows. as a moment’s glance at the meticulous reconstructions in the various studies published by Arnold J. For example. Moreover. If the use of Anderson as an authority for the history of seventeenth-century Freemasonry is unwise. This point was made by J. In the case of Flint Castle. when he urged a detailed examination of this issue17. Wales barely ﬁgures in Schuchard’s discussion. but many other gifted craftsmen from both England and abroad were used.

To understand developments in Freemasonry in seventeenth-century England. Stevenson’s studies posed an important challenge. that Freemasonry preserved aspects of Stuart court culture (pp. Blake. Wales and ultimately Europe and America? England has nothing comparable to the
. She is of course right in thinking that there are other views of the history and signiﬁcance of Freemasonry than those which might be gleaned from examining conventional mainstream Anglo-Saxon Freemasonry.STUART FREEMASONRY
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does not even appear in the index. This brings us to the fundamental problem in Schuchard’s book. William Finch. as a Jewish Freemason in Catholic Dublin’ (p. at the working masons themselves. Ireland. it is not necessary to know whether theories of the sort put forward by Bonneville were right or wrong. 7). Nicholas Bonneville. Yeats and Joyce on Freemasonry. perhaps Ireland has been reserved for a future volume. who published a pamphlet repeating Bonneville’s claims about the Stuart origins of Freemasonry. but the inﬂuence they exerted. For example. She hints at some of these threads in her book. why the Irish novelist James Joyce portrayed his Everyman hero. If the ﬁrst steps towards modern Freemasonry were taken in Scotland. and of no less importance in the history of Freemasonry. Schuchard remains. but it requires a completely different approach to that adopted by Schuchard. in the wake of David Stevenson’s work. Paine wrote an essay on the origins of Freemasonry which was profoundly to inﬂuence such radical thinkers in England as Richard Carlile and George Jacob Holyoake. Having said that. we need to look further down the social scale. which. This is a major ﬂaw. In understanding the views of Paine. Schuchard’s failure to discuss Ireland is even more surprising in that her avowed aim was to help understand ‘why the Irish poet William Butler Yeats argued that William Blake was a Cabalist. like the Whig historians she criticises. captivated by the crown and constitution. through these paths. Leopold Bloom. 585). 581. What is interesting in this is not whether or not Bonneville was right in his views. helped shape the views of Yeats and Joyce on Freemasonry. and Thomas Paine. What is required is rather to trace the paths by which theories of this kind were transmitted and transmuted. Ireland is of central importance in the history of the Stuarts. Again. an associate of Bonneville. there is a pressing need for a study of seventeenth-century Freemasonry in England. She deeply wants to believe that the “eccentric” version of history proposed by such ﬁgures as MacGregor Mathers is really true. she picks out the view of the French revolutionary writer and Freemason. These views inﬂuenced English radicals such as the English Masonic reformer. Rosicrucian and Swedenborgian. how was Freemasonry later transmitted into England.

Tudor and Jacobean: A Guide and Gazeteer. and it is only from such research that hidden truths will ever be rediscovered. It is equally surprising that no attempt has apparently been made to gather references to the organisation and structure of English Freemasons in such standard published sources as the Public Record Ofﬁce’s Calendars of State Papers Domestic or the calendars published by the Royal Commission on Historical Manuscripts. Oxford 2000.182
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lodge records in Scotland. Neville Barker Cryer into the surviving records of the Grand Lodge of All England in York. which have produced more solid evidence of the organisation and structure of English Freemasonry in the late seventeenth century than anything in Schuchard’s book. the kind of concerted attack on building accounts. Peter. building contracts. there are huge archives which remain untouched by Masonic scholars. The archives of cities such as Newcastle. It is sad that the important researches of the Revd. ——. Above all. but Masonic scholars do not seem to have taken any interest in these researches. British Clubs and Societies. London 1982. The Tudor and Jacobean Country House: A Building History. judicial records. ecclesiastical court records and other archives which Knoop. Beyond this. Stroud 1995. Bibliography
Airs.
. Clark.
18 There is in fact a great deal of detailed information on these matters in the works of architectural historians such as Airs and Girouard. have been unable to ﬁnd a publisher. Jones and Hamer undertook in the 1930s and 1940s for the middle ages needs to be repeated for the early modern period.. Buildings of Britain. York or Coventry require examination to see what information they contain about the organisations of stonemasons known to exist in those towns in the sixteenth and seventeenth century. M. What kind of people did Robert Smythson employ in his great Elizabethan building projects? How were they organised? What contacts did they have with Scottish stonemasons? Would Scottish stonemasons working in England have brought any of their new practices with them? What changes in the organisation of the English stonemasons’ craft did the “Great Rebuildings” bring about? How did the rise of the gentleman architect and the increasing specialisation of building activities affect the position of working freemasons such as Smythson18? Such questions can only be answered by detailed archival research. but there are still many archival resources bearing on the organisation of working stonemasons in seventeenth-century England which remain unexplored. 1580-1800: The Origins of an Associational World.

‘The King’s Works in Wales 1277-1330’. ——.).G. The Mediæval Mason: An Economic History of English Stone Building in the Later Middle Ages and Early Modern Times. Taylor. London 1963. W. David. Knoop. David. Cambridge 1989. Yates.P. Stevenson. New Haven 1983. ‘The Great Rebuilding’. The Origins of Freemasonry: Scotland’s Century. reprinted as The Welsh Castles of Edward I. ‘Spectacle and Power: Apollo and Solomon at the Court of Henry VIII’. Hoskins. Robert Smythson and the Elizabethan Country House. Arnold J. Colin. Past and Present 4 (1968).. 391-406. ‘Jacobites and Freemasons in Eighteenth-century Wales’. 44-59 Girouard. Manchester 1967.P. 16-22. J. London 1966. 293-408. History of the King’s Works 1. Douglas & G. Platt. London 1985. History Today 32:10 (1984). Welsh History Review 9 (1979). Edinburgh 2001. in: H. 2nd ed. 1590-1710. ——. History Today 5:2 (1955). Studies in Castles and Castle-Building. Frances A..STUART FREEMASONRY
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Cressy. The First Freemasons: Scotland’s Early Lodges and their Members. London 1994.M. ——... Jenkins.
. Jones. Colvin (ed. 3rd ed. M. London 1986. The Art of Memory.. 104-111.. ‘The Rebuilding of Rural England 1570-1640’. The Great Rebuildings of Tudor and Stuart England: Revolutions in Architectural Taste..

2 . as well as the on-going publication of newly discovered Jacobite and Écossais documents from European
2 3
Chevallier. Faut-il-et cette origine serait trés séduisantajouter foi à ceux qui font remonter les première Loges françaises à notre sol des Stuart exilés aprés 1649 et 1688? . observes about ‘Les émigrés jacobites habitués en France’:
Les origines de celle-ci baignent dans une obscurité profonde et peu d’espoir existe de la voir un jour dissiper. and Irish) Masonry that links up with post-1717 Écossais systems has been a frustrating stumbling block to European scholars. for that is a charge he would also have to make against many of these major scholars. When their cause emerges with a commitment to freemasonry. 1988). L’origine Jacobite (du nom des partisans des Stuarts détronés Jacques II. tendencies toward reform. 1988). deﬁned as progressive and modern in its aspirations and outlook.
. but real. Jacob forthrightly recognizes the problem that the persistent Stuart-Jacobite traditions poses to historians:
Generally historians have not known quite what to do with the stalwart but exiled Jacobites except to see them as romantic patrons of an essentially lost. The Origins of Freemasonry: Scotland’s Century. puis ‘Jacques III’) de l’Ordre n’est pas facile à écarter . rationalist Masonry of non-Écossais rites in France. English. who are hampered by the anti-Jacobite. Living the Enlightenment.
Her own re-thinking of Masonic history was stimulated by David Stevenson’s ground-breaking books. who has carried out important archival work in Holland and France and who has published major works on the “modern”. the historian is confounded by an ostensible paradox. Chevallier’s puzzlement over the alleged Jacobite inﬂuences is shared by the American historian Margaret Jacob. . Jacob. anti-French “conventional wisdom” of most English writers on Masonry. 4-5.
My book aims to bring some light to that ‘profound obscurity’ about early Stuart Masonry and its inﬂuence in France. and backward-looking. I. Pierre Chevallier. The major French historian. 206. Histoire de la Franc-Maçonnerie Française. Newtonian Masonry of the English Grand Lodge and the “enlightened”. One solution has been to see the Jacobite inﬂuence as conﬁned largely to the period prior to 1740 and thus divorce it from the last decades of eighteenth-century French masonic history with its complex. . . and The First Freemasons: Scotland’s Early Lodges and Their Members (Aberdeen. if not republicanism3. cause. The lack of a pre-1717 history of British (Scottish.RESPONSE TO PRESCOTT’S REVIEW
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before claiming that my whole thesis is “credulous”. 1590-1710 (Cambridge. .

for I ‘forget that there were other crafts’. First Freemasons. in the reign of his Majesty James the sixth of blessed memory. McLynn.186
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archives. which included the following assertions:
. . Jacobitism and the English People. Maintaining an open mind (even to new material that seems to contradict her earlier arguments). on the decease of John Mylne. . 6 Stevenson. I examine the early Franco-Scottish ties (the “auld alliance”) that inﬂuenced the similarly ‘enlightened. the other crafts did not maintain as their traditions the selected themes of the book. and the Special Feature articles in 1650-1850.. .
We cannot imagine Jacobitism as the driving impulse in French aristocratic freemasonry by midcentury. 207. nor were any other crafts so precisely associated with the Stuart kings from the sixteenth through eighteenth centuries. However. Charles Edward. there came one from the North country named John Mylne. who by reason of his skill and art was preferred to be the King’s Majesty’s Master Mason and Master of the said Lodge at Scone. .
In my book. baroque. and those origins may help to account for the simultaneously enlightened. 8 (2002). Rather it was one of its roots. baroque. In response to this challenge. Master Mason and Master of the said Lodge’ at Perth. According to Prescott. In Robert Mylne’s book. and occult— even pious—freemasonry that we found so prominent in the Strasbourg lodges of the 1770s and 1780s. 159-255. and Master of the said Lodge. . my concentration on these Masonic themes is ‘an example of tunnel vision’. The Master Masons to the Crown of Scotland and Their Works (1893). dated 24 December 1658. Stuart Court in Exile. who by
Ibid. Moreover. Cruickshanks. Jacob observes. a mason. 103. . Corp & Cruickshanks. . and I suggest ways that these interests were expressed and implemented in Masonry during their reigns. and his son John Mylne being after his father’s decease preferred to the said ofﬁce. then Schuchard’s elaborate house of cards collapses’. he reproduced a ‘Contract by the Master Masons . He also states as an example of ‘excessive credulity’ my acceptance of the tradition that James VI and I was an initiated Mason: ‘If James VI and I was not a Freemason. See especially Monod. I draw on recent revisionist studies of Jacobitism to argue that the religious and scientiﬁc policies of the later Stuart kings and their Masonic supporters were actually ‘progressive and modern’5. I will examine the sole source for Prescott’s rejection of the Masonic afﬁliation of James—the statement by David Stevenson that he ﬁnds a statement made in a 1658 Masonic document ‘implausible’6.
4 5
. and occult’ preoccupations of the seventeenth-century Stuart kings. Glorious Revolution. among others4.

Colvin. it may be noted that John Mylne is also referred to as royal master mason in the memoirs of James Lord Somerville (d. Lord Somerville recalled that in 1584-5 the 7th Lord Somerville employed ‘John Millne. the fourth John Mylne ‘was conﬁrmed in his ofﬁce of Master Mason to the Crown’. when he passed the ofﬁce on to his son John (d. Mason. It was after the third John Mylne’s death that the Masons of Perth produced their document about James VI’s initiation. MIDLOTHIAN . . Stevenson could ﬁnd no contemporary evidence to support the claim that the second John Mylne was a royal master mason and. his nephew Robert Mylne (d. [my italics]7. the king’s master meassone. I. and during all his lifetime he maintained the same as one member of the Lodge of Scone—so that this Lodge (if well ordered) within this kingdom—of which name of Mylne there hath continued generations of Master Masons to his Majesties the Kings of Scotland .
Colvin goes on to state that ‘As Master of the Lodge of Scone he [Mylne] entered King James VI and I by his own desire as “frieman Meason and Fellow Craft. Walter Scott. . 1657). Master Masons. Howard Colvin—the leading historian of British architecture—published reinforcement for the claim about Mylne and accepted the statement about the king’s initiation. 460]8. .
..
At that time. in 1995. In his biographical entry on the second John Mylne (d. 1667). Ibid. 1815. ed.RESPONSE TO PRESCOTT’S REVIEW
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the said second John Mylne was by the King’s own desire entered Freeman. Colvin summarized Robert Mylne’s account and the assertion in the Perth document:
Although no ofﬁcial or contemporary record appears to conﬁrm this statement. not convincing (but not disproven). Biographical Dictionary. Seven years later. 674-675. [Memorie of the Somervilles. 1690). and Fellow Craft. 1710) was appointed by Charles II in 1668 as ‘Master Mason to the Scottish Crown’. I modernized the spelling in the quotation. he found the statement about James VI and I ‘implausible’—i. Writing in 1679. 676-679. His only son having died in infancy. After the Restoration. For Prescott. 128-29. Edinburgh. given the preceding mythological material on the Masons’ direct descent from Solomon’s Temple. in which the Perth
7 8 9
Mylne. in 1988. who ‘was made “fellow of craft” in the Edinburgh Masonic lodge’ and who ‘repeatedly served as Deacon of the Edinburgh masons’9. this document (whose authenticity has never been contested) is ‘a suspect source’. 1621).’ to build the family seat called the DRUM.e. Colvin states that he served as Master Mason to the Crown’ under Charles I until 1636.” In his next entry on the third John Mylne (d. .

Hiram: or. . Because I greatly admire Stevenson’s work. 1792). Antient Constitutions .. In the 1760s. and internationalist interests in architecture and his close collaboration with known masons. so I did not belabor our point of disagreement. all editions from 1775 to 1812). Constitutions of . However. 1736). A Pocket-Companion for Freemasons (London. I assumed that most readers (and certainly students of Masonic history) would be familiar with the strength and persistence of that widelyknown and widely-disseminated tradition. that claim was accurate10. Free and Accepted Masons (Worcester.
10 In her important work. 1731).
. or.188
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masons ‘spuriously’ claim that ‘members of the Mylne family had served the crown’. Fiﬁeld D’Assigny. Thus. 38.c. Proofs of a Conspiracy (1797)11. Illustrations of Masonry (London. with a Speech Delivered at the Grand Lodge of York (London. likely to invent royal connections’ is not convincing. but I do not have access at present to the many relevant publications held in the British Library and London Grand Lodge. Masonry Triumphant (Newcastle upon Tyne. Scottish Architecture. . according to Colvin (and Deborah Howard). 1723 and 1738). Deborah Howard cites the Mylne-Somerville source and provides reinforcing information on the generations of Mylne master masons. John Pennell. George Washington. intellectual. After all. 1744). plausible and implausible are matters of opinion. dedicated to the Grand Master. . 191-93. . Constitutions of the Freemasons (Dublin. Constitutions of the Freemasons (London. 44-46. To justify my own decision for ‘plausibility’. 1766). William Smith. Because the claim about James’s initiation was not rejected and was repeated in virtually all eighteenth-century documents dealing with Scottish Masonry. M. I provided the most through examination that has yet been published concerning James VI and I’s religious. 1730). Massachusetts. when the Stuart family was in exile and could provide no employment. . John Robison. Histoire de Franc-maçonnerie (Frankfurt. de la Tierce. William Preston. Prescott’s assertion that ‘Masons seeking royal patronage are more. 11 This list can be greatly extended. I will brieﬂy list authors who repeat the assertion that James VI and I was a ‘Mason King’: James Anderson. 1735) and The Book M. Freemasonry in the Kingdom of Ireland (Dublin. A Serious and Impartial Inquiry into . because such a claim—especially in a written document—could subject them to serious legal charges. Moreover. see o. A Curious Collection of the Most Celebrated Songs in Masonry (London. not less. 1731). 1747). 216-17. their bold statement was made in 1658. . I had no desire to argue with him. the Grand Master-Key to the door of Both Antient and Modern Freemasonry (London. to shore up my ‘house of cards’. political.

parallel between Hiram and Charles II as the Widow’s Son. Secret History. . Franc-Maçonnerie en France.RESPONSE TO PRESCOTT’S REVIEW
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Baron Théodore-Henry Tschoudy established a special Masonic rite which featured a degree entitled ‘Grand Ecossais de la voûte sacrée de Jacques VI’12. According to Prescott. as everyone allows he was a great encourager of the Craft’. reliable and contemporary statement that Charles II was a Freemason’. He ignores my quotations on p. 101. Soon after Anderson’s publication. Hiramic references. Anderson. Manuscript reproduced by Thorpe in ‘Old Masonic Manuscripts’.
. ‘Additions’. In Anderson’s 1738 revised edition. at the Restoration. 40-48.
The quotations in Hebrew letters. which do not dispute its authenticity nor its claim about Charles II as governor of the Craft15. ‘true Masonry was likewise restored’16. Latomia. Is it not written ye shall not hurt ye Lords anointed14. Long may he reign in ye land and govern ye Craft. an anonymous critic of his book and of Masonry in general complained that this was weak evidence for Charles II. 125-44. for doth not ye Son of ye blessed Martyr [Charles II] reign over ye whole land. 24-39. 255. . ‘Ye History of Masonry’. pt. XXIX (1873). 40-41. Latomia. he clariﬁed his statement. 674 from the manuscript. and strong royalist sentiments in the manuscript have been ably discussed in Masonic publications. In 1723 James Anderson asserted that ‘besides the Tradition of old Masons now alive. XXI. 37. noting that these traditions had long been taught in German and Swedish high-degree lodges13. Constitutions (1723). No other critic questioned the assertion that Charles II was initiated during his Continental exile. . the highly-respected German journal of Masonic research. 98-99. which may be rely’d upon. 29. See especially McLeod. . ‘Nowhere does Schuchard ﬁnd an explicit. noting that Charles II ‘was made a Free-Mason in his travels’18. . . Constitutions (1738). 2 (1865). Behold now ye return of pleasant . . IX (1847). In the nineteenth-century. but he did not query the claim for James VI and I17. 669 (the epigraph to Chapter Eleven) and p. written by Thomas Treloar in 1665 and copied by Jon Raymond in 1705:
And after many days Charles [I] did reign in ye land and lo his blood was spilled upon ye earth even by ye traitor Cromwell. Anonymus. Anderson. we have much reason to believe that King Charles II was an Accepted Free-Mason.
12 13 14 15 16 17 18
Bord. I. published detailed articles on the Masonic afﬁliation of James VI and I (and his Stuart successors).

Royal Order of Scotland: Letter Book ‘Details of Different Degrees’.
19 20
. IX (1847).
Le Forestier. Curiously. France. 21 Latomia. is it a ‘plausible’ suggestion?—yes. c’est pourquoi les hauts grades portaient ce titre générique [Écossais]’19. after 1724. ‘Les Écossais passés en France avec Jacques II avaient le projet de remettre leur maître sur le trône avec la’aide de ce nouvel Ordre’. Templiers du 14e Siècle (1788). 29. German Masonic historians published descriptions of the development by James II’s partisans of the higher degrees of Scottish Master and Knights of the ‘heiligen Andreas zur Distel’ and ‘Stuartbrudergra’21. 740-41). 723-27. 117. I am grateful to Gordon Smart. 2 (1865). As French and Irish historians have long noted. Germany. I do raise the possiblity (not claim the proof) that he was afﬁliated with the Scottish (not English) fraternity during his residence as Duke of York in Edinburgh. Though Anderson. René Le Forestier (the pre-eminent French historian of ‘illuminist’ Masonry) describes a pamphlet published in 1739 in Paris. Edinburgh. For example. Moreover. Moreover. eighteenth-century documents describe ‘the Scottish Degree of James II’20. Is this proof ?—no. Versuch über die Beschuldigen welche dem Tempelherren gemacht worden (1782). and Nicholas de Bonneville. said that the deposed James II ‘was not a brother Mason’. a strong anti-Jacobite and supporter of the Hanoverian succession. succeeding Masonic authors in Britain. for permission to examine the archives.190
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and it was repeated in all of the eighteenth-century Masonic histories cited above—plus Friedrich Nicolai. when Jonathan Swift (a critic of Anderson’s Constitutions) referred to ‘the famous old Scottish Lodge of Kilwinning of which all the Kings of Scotland have been from time to time Grand Masters without interruption’. In the archives of the Royal Order of Heredom of Kilwinning in Edinburgh. when he sponsored major architectural projects and collaborated closely with known Masons. In Latomia. 102-03. Similar eighteenth-century assertions about James II and his Jacobite followers have been noticed by all the modern European historians I cited (as well as John Herron Lepper in Ireland). who published a mystical-mathematical-Masonic broadside in 1685 to support his claim to the British throne (pp. Franc-Maçonnerie Templière et Occultiste. La Maçonnerie Écossoise comparée avec les trois Professions et le secret des. Grand Secretary of the Royal Order. ‘The King of Scots Hereditary Grand Master’. today’s letterhead for the Order reads. XXIV. which ‘afﬁrmait que Jacques II avait établit les degrés maçonniques supérieurs pour récompenser le loyalisme des Écossais qui avaient été ses plus ﬁdèles partisans. pt. publications from the 1730s onward afﬁrmed a Masonic role for James II.

in the three kingdoms of Great Britain. 23 Jackson. by vote of seventy members. informing him that he (Duke Carl) has been elected chief of the XII Province of Templar Masonry and thus renders tribute to the Stuart prince as ‘Grand Maitre de notre St.RESPONSE TO PRESCOTT’S REVIEW
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and Sweden repeated the hereditary role of the Stuart ‘Mason Kings’22. Rise of the Ecossais Degrees. or that they united themselves to
22 [Swift]. In 1783. some of them secreted themselves on the High Lands of Scotland. The Frenchafﬁliated lodges in London. 25 Royal Archives.
. the surviving minute book of a lodge meeting of Lambert de Lintot’s Rite of Seven Degrees (an Écossais afﬁliate) in London in 1774 describes the removal. 787-92. the brothers further promise that ‘they will give no recognition to any consitution in the name of the Said Charles Edward. The strongest international supporters of the Stuarts as hereditary Grand Masters were the Swedish royal family and pro-French Hat party (from the 1740s on). I discuss Swift’s account of Masonic history and Cabalistic symbolism on pp. Letter from the Grand Mistress. see the assertion (often repeated in other publications) in Calcott. For example. including Masonic papers. For an example of the post-Swift statements. Ordre’25. Smith. in a revealing letter. 36. 104. ‘Rite of Seven Degrees in London’. Rose Croix. 75. These papers and the Swedish royal correspondence reveal that Charles Edward maintained secret bonds with the Swedish Masons while he stonewalled their German rivals. Windsor: Stuart Papers. In addition. were then under surveillance by the English government. as contrary to the vows we make and shall make all our lives for the prosperity of the House of Brunswick’24. Conservator. 497/198. 27. and that from them either arose. Horace Mann (British diplomatic representative in Florence and a ‘Hanoverian’ Mason). reported to Consul Udney what he had learned about Swedish-Jacobite Masonic transactions in Italy:
It is supposed that when the Order of the Templars was suppressed and the individuals were persecuted. of Charles Edward Stuart from his position as ‘Grand Master. 24 Document reproduced in Wonnacott. though the role of Prince Charles Edward Stuart in Freemasonry remains controversial. Guardian of the Pact and Sacred Vow of Christian Princes’. as well as many Ancient lodges. The widespread destruction of Jacobite documents. during and after the 1745 rebellion renders research into subsequent Écossais political activities difﬁcult but not impossible. correspondence of the Comte de Clermont (French Grand Master) and the Marquis de Gages in 1767 reveals that both considered the Stuart prince a Grand Master’23. Among the unpublished Stuart Papers is a letter (dated 18 January 1780) from Duke Carl of Soudermania (ﬁrst brother of Gustaf III) to Charles Edward Stuart. Grand Commander. ‘The fraternity of Free-Masons in Scotland always owned their king and sovereign as their Grand Master’. Candid Disquisition.

Count Albany [Charles Edward] said that a few years ago a Minister of the King of Denmark to the circles of Germany . . . ca.and nineteenth-century opponents of high-degree. by which he was appointed His Swedish Coadjutor and Successor to the Grand Mastership of the North .R. a transaction that was formalized after the Young Pretender’s death in 1788. see Nordmann. .
. in the year 1776. . Gustave III. acknowledges that ‘there has been no serious study of the Jacobites and Freemasonry in English Masonic research circles’. Forbes Papers: Q171. scholarly response to Hamill’s paper. . . Monod. and Richard Carlile to the reactionary rationalist John Robison27. of which the Kings of Scotland were supposed to be hereditary Grand Masters. The Republican. solicited the same nomination in favour of the Duke of Brunswick . 28 See Stewart’s important.
Charles Edward also named Gustaf III to be his successor as Grand Master of the Templar Masons. see his journal. From this Principle the present Pretender has let himself be persuaded that the Grand Mastership devolved on him. Moreover. 27 For Carlile. who rejects the Jacobite-Masonic case.192
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the Society of Free Masons. 1800). Charles Edward Stuart. John Robison’s Commonplace Book. for the Swedes were staunch Lutherans. . in which quality. 354. Arguing against the continuing dismissal by present-day English Masons of Stuart and French claims. Memoirs of Sir Horace Mann. 105-112). who ranged from the radical rationalists Bonneville. XII (1825). Hamill. Andrews University reveal his extensive reading in Continental Masonic literature and the mass of documentation he found for the tradition that Stuart partisans brought Masonry to France in 1649 and 1688 (MS. For further accounts of Charles Edward’s transactions with the Swedish ‘Mason King’. 329-331. Jacobitism. 219-20. I must own I never thought the Society of Free Masons was looked upon in Germany to be of such importance as to excite the ambition of two such Princes to be at the head of them26. Mann’s letter is worth quoting at length.8. The King of Sweden during his stay here [in 1783] obtained a patent from the Pretender in due form. He granted a Patent to the Duke of Ostrogothia [second brother of Gustaf III] (who was then here) by which he appointed him his Vicar of all the Lodges in the North . Trevor Stewart (a Scottish member of the London research lodge Quatuor Coronati) warns that ‘We ignore the possible connections of the exiled Stuarts and the oaktree emblem and Freemasonry at our historiographic peril’28. Écossais rites. McLynn. . because it reveals the international strength of the Stuart-Masonic claims in an account by a political enemy to those traditions. 67. The frustrating refusal of most English Masonic historians to deal with these
26 Sieveking. ‘The Jacobite Conspiracy’ (Stewart’s response is at pp. 303-05. 532-535. it belies the conventional Whig claim that Jacobitism was a Papist cause. The letter also points forward to the acceptance of Stuart-Masonic claims by eighteenth. Robison’s papers at St. Nicolai.

For the masons. which deals with the failure of Henry VIII’s designers and craftsmen to continue the assimilation of Italian Renaissance architectural principles. and even English literature. 32. the architectural historian Howard Colvin. Irish.
. when rejecting my argument about the negative and isolationist effect on English architecture produced by Henry VIII’s break with Rome and destruction of monasteries. Prescott quotes Malcolm Airs that Henry VIII’s appetite for building was ‘truly voracious’. Scandinavian. he would perhaps have moderated his sweeping condemnation of my theses. 139:
29 30
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historical developments is a major reason why I undertook my investigation into the medieval. and it was only with the downfall of Wolsey in 1529 that his appetite for building became truly voracious. as Airs makes clear. In the early years of his reign. Here is the more fully quoted passage. which the king had brieﬂy sponsored in 1512:
Perhaps if the links with the Continent had remained open this would ultimately have been so. 29. Henry VIII had built little that has survived. Prescott further accuses me of ‘selective quotation’—an odd charge since all quotation is selective. Ibid. It has been reckoned that at the time of his death in 1547 he had more than forty houses at his disposal .. If Prescott had looked at this vast eighteenth-century Continental. Henry’s voracious building was of ‘houses’ and ‘small fortresses’ and that the latter ‘still remain as an impressive architectural testament to England’s isolated position in the years after the break with Rome’30. but the political events which served to isolate England from the cultural forces of Catholic Europe prevented it and no work of art comparable to the quality of Torrigiano’s [monumental royal] tomb was to appear in London for another hundred years or so. this was a serious decline from the ‘Royal Art’ of monumental royal and ecclesiastical architecture which was their traditional source of artistic pride and social prestige.29. When Prescott argues that ‘as strong a case could be made for Henry VIII as a “Mason King” as for James VI and I’. For example. and he himself practices it.to-seventeenth-century roots of these widely-believed traditions. but he omits Airs’ preceding lines about the break in Renaissance building traditions in England.
However. Buildings of Britain. whom I quote on p. which provide seventeenthcentury links to these Jacobite-Masonic affairs. . .

through subordinates who were for the most part ruthless. a backwater in which there were only faint or distorted echoes of developments over the Channel32. In sixteenth-century (and twentiethcentury) architectural terminology.
31 32
. where James V strengthened his kingdom’s links with European architectural developments and ‘plenished the country with all kinds of craftsmen out of other countries’ in order to ‘apparel his palaces’33. Henry VIII’s break with Rome and iconoclastic policies. to counter that thesis. because—according to Girouard—the best Catholic craftsmen were ‘unlikely to risk Papal disapproval by coming to England’34. Girouard observes that
the Crown abandoned almost entirely the role of patron of the arts. and employed sophisticated French master masons. By two sharp blows English architecture had lost its main supporters and main links which would have connected it with the architecture of the Continent. a freemason who built country houses for the Elizabethan nobility. 138-46. and the great majority of their buildings were (to use the contemporary expressions) ‘plucked down’ or ‘defaced’. and effected by his minister. I contrast the developments in Scotland. 33 Lindsay of Pittscottie. 252. In England between 1536 and 1540 every monastery was dissolved in a country whose culture had for ﬁve hundred years been largely embodied in its churches and religious houses. Robert Smythson. Smythson. 3. cynical and philistine men31. See also McKean. Henry VIII was no longer able to attract ﬁrst-rank architects and masons from Europe.
On pp.
For modern architectural historians. 34 Girouard. Girouard. Sir James Hamilton of Finnart. there was a signiﬁcant difference in design and construction status connoted by the words ‘houses’ and ‘palaces’. encouraged his architectural studies in France. History of the Stuart Kings. ‘Recycling the Monasteries’.194
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The dissolution of the monasteries was arguably the greatest single act of architectural vandalism in English. produced a serious hiatus in English architectural development. 5. perhaps even in European history . followed by Elizabeth I’s neglect of ecclesiastical and monumental building. but he does not mention Girouard’s statement. ‘Sir James Hamilton of Finnart’. Thomas Cromwell. This was done by the authority of a tyrannical and grasping king [Henry VIII]. Prescott cites Mark Girouard’s book on Robert Smythson. which I quote on p.
Colvin. 139. While James V patronized the brilliant courtier-architect. 3. . . Arguing that Henry VIII’s break with Rome led to disruption of England’s contacts with artistic developments on the Continent. For ﬁfty years it remained provincial.

152-79. yet. . VI (1963). Church. to be reck’nd among the Artes Mathematicall . 5. Castell. . 25 ff. . grosse workes . 36 Girouard. within him Selfe (as chief. ‘Aubrey’s Chronologia Architectonica’. 19. enformeth. . Gen. to many may seme not worthy. Colvin and other modern historians agree with him and consider Aubrey’s manuscript ‘Chronologia Architectonica’ (1671) a valuable historical study:
Almost every signiﬁcant building is mentioned [by Aubrey] and the perspicacity of the remark about Elizabethan architecture going backwards will not be lost on those who have read Dr. ‘we ﬁnd a memorandum of a conversation about freemasons which Aubrey had had with Wren and Dugdale’. Forte. Ignoring my discussion of Aubrey’s manuscript on pp.
Dee argued that because of this devaluation of architecture in England. or such like. 37 Dee’s Preface to Elements of Geometrie. Musicall. Moreover. and is chief judge of the same. The manuscript is in the Bodleian Library-MS. 6. And though the Architect procureth. The complaint about such iconoclastic ‘backwardness’ was even made to Elizabeth herself in 1570 by her loyal courtier. his conclusion was based on a thorough investigation into designing and building practices during her reign. the royal mathematician John Dee. C. Astronomicall. Mark Girouard’s paper on ‘Elizabethan Architecture and the Gothic Tradition’. See also Dr. whom I quote on p. When John Aubrey observed that ‘Under Elizabeth architecture made no growth: but rather went backward’. and the small estimation in which they were held. Opticall.RESPONSE TO PRESCOTT’S REVIEW
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The situation did not improve under Elizabeth I. to handworke & and the building actuall.
Colvin is also struck that ‘on the very ﬁrst page’ of the manuscript.*—*Architectural History.
. meant that there were no Elizabethan architects’36. Arithmeticall. As I will show later. Girouard argues further that the ‘lack of enlightened patronage of the visual arts. Pallace. Prescott recommends a publisher’s “blurb” for one of Malcolm Airs’ books on Tudor and Jacobean country houses as ‘a better starting point than Aubrey’. Cosmographicall . plaine. 747-48. by cause it is but for building of a house. and Solid: by Geometricall. or Pallace. Smythson. . Master. though she did stop the policy of architectural destruction. few ‘in our dayes atteyne’ to the mathematical mastery necessary to great build35 Colvin. Top. [are] able to be conﬁrmed and established37. Girouard’s essay in the present volume35. remaineth the Demonstrative reason and cause of the Mechaniciens worke in Lyne. . even Airs would probably disagree with that judgment. & directeth the Mechanicien. 219:
Architecture. and Architect). of house.

long-argued thesis. which—according to Stephen Daniells—recall the ‘distinctly magical’ stagecraft of the ‘Jacobean masques’. Dianne Duggan uses newly discovered documents to prove that in the building of Covent Garden. It was the Scottish king who encouraged Jones’s rise from artisan to architect. Cabalistic. In these productions of real and “virtual” architecture. who utilized these illusionistic techniques in designs for Cagliostro’s Egyptian Rite.. 41 Hart describes (ibid. I. sculpture. but
Airs.J. a Scottish tutor at the court of James VI and I.. it was conﬁned to a small group immediately surrounding the court [of James VI and I]’38. When Prescott cites the publisher’s “blurb” for Airs’ book.) had no inﬂuence in England until James Cleland. Dee’s plea for a reform of English architecture and its related crafts (i. masonry. and it is relevant that Jones utilized masonic craftsmen from his Ofﬁce of Works to stage these elaborate symbolic dramas39. 224. Preface. carpentry. As I demonstrate (pp.e. many of the Hermetic. Even worse is the ‘scarcitie of Artiﬁcers’ and skilled craftsmen. he does not recognize that (like many such book-selling blurbs). and even then. Stephen Orgel and Roy Strong argue that ‘Jones’s most serious theoretical assumptions about architecture appear in the texts of his masques’. ‘Loutherbourg’s Chemical Theatre’. Charles I’s role as a deeply-involved. published The Institution of a Young Noble Man (London. Making of the English Country House.
38 39
. his son Charles I continued to support Jones’s brilliant implementation of Renaissance designs in mystical architecture and magical theater40. and who collaborated closely with him on building projects and masque productions. Vaughan Hart demonstrates that after James’s death. Art and Magic. which recommended the study of Dee to gentlemen architects who hoped to achieve the theoretical expertise of the master mason. sophisticated patron of architecture is increasingly documented by historians. de Loutherbourg. for Airs forthrightly considered the Elizabethan country house a lower form of architecture: ‘In England the intellectual basis of Renaissance architecture was not fully appreciated before Inigo Jones. etc. see his article. 40 Hart. as a result of the prevailing political climate. As Cleland knew. 8. and chivalric themes were expressed that later emerged in Écossais Masonic rituals (themes which Prescott does not mention)41. ‘Jones was not only the architect of the whole project. 1607). For example.196
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ing. Inigo Jones. P. 199-200. 21. 17) the inﬂuence of ‘Cabala in particular’ on Jones’s magical themes and scenic techniques in the royal masques. These Cabalistic scenarios were replicated in the eighteenth century by the ﬂamboyant theatrical designer and Écossais Mason. it exaggerates and distorts the author’s own. Orgel & Strong. 262-69). Dee’s important Preface had already inﬂuenced Scottish students of architecture.

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along with Charles I the driving force behind the design’42. Thus, it should not be surprising that eighteenth-century historians of Masonry also named Charles I as a “Mason King”. In Prescott’s concluding footnote, he laments that ‘Masonic scholars do not seem to have taken any interest’ in the research of architectural historians such as Airs and Girouard, but he himself did not bother to check any of the major Scottish historians I cite in my book, or to go beyond a few brief references to a handful of English authors and a publisher’s “blurb”. Unfortunately, a reader of his review would have no idea of the wealth of architectural and masonic historical information—much from unpublished manuscript material—that I present in my book. Because of the limited space alloted for my response, I will brieﬂy address only a few more of Prescott’s criticisms. In my discussion of early and medieval Jewish inﬂuences on operative masonry and guild organization, Prescott says that ‘her claim that the idea of the guild originated with Jewish masons’ is part of my ‘over-simplistic view’. However, that is not my ‘claim’ but rather a quotation from Mark Wischnitzer’s landmark study, A History of Jewish Crafts and Guilds (New York, 1965), pp. 67, 74, in which he argues that Jewish handicraftsmen brought ‘the idea of the guild’ from the Near East and that Jewish guilds played a vital role in the transmission of crafts within the Byzantine empire. Prescott implies that I ignore the complex process of cultural interchange, but I devote much discussion in Chapters One and Two to that Jewish-Islamic-Christian cross-fertilization. What is important to Masonic history is that it was almost exclusively the Jewish architectural mysticism and symbolism that was preserved within the masons’ lodges. This was especially relevant to masonry in Scotland, with its medieval foundation myth and patriotic literature proclaiming a Jewish heritage—a heritage that inﬂuenced the Jewish and Cabalistic themes of Stuart Freemasonry. Prescott complains that I am ‘captivated by the crown and constitution’ and need ‘to look further down the social scale’; however, my subject matter is the “Royal Art” of Masonry, which was patronized and developed by kings, courtiers, bishops, and their commissioned craftsmen. Moreover, the spread of Écossaisme in the eighteenth century was largely inﬂuenced by aristocratic and royal “brothers”, though the Scottish tradition of egalitarianism within a royalist culture (a tradition eloquently described by David Stevenson) brought a refreshingly new social pluralism and mobility into European lodges43.
42 43

In a rather silly statement, Prescott complains about the lack of ‘any substantial discussion of Ireland, which does not even appear in the index’; since the index consists of personal names only and not places, of course Ireland does not appear there. Moreover, he apparently skipped over the detailed discussions of Thomas Wentworth’s royalist architectural projects in Ireland; the migration of the hereditary Masonic patron William St. Clair of Roslin to Ireland; the moves of members of the famous Masonic family, Thomas and Robert Mylne, to Ulster; and Jonathan Swift’s Masonically-relevant experiences and writings in Dublin and Ulster (passim). In fact, much of the concluding Chapter Twelve deals with Ireland, for it was William of Orange’s invasion of England and Ireland in 1688-89 that brought Irish-Jacobite Freemasonry into the historical record and began the important Irish contribution to Écossais Masonic developments. Prescott’s totally unsubstantiated (and almost bizarre) claim that the opinions of the radical English deists Thomas Paine and Richard Carlile ‘helped shape the views of Yeats and Joyce on Freemasonry’ ignores the mass of documented publications on the Irish and French sources of their information (i.e., their own family members, friends, and colleagues who were initiates of high-degree, Écossais, Rosicrucian, and Martinist lodges in Dublin, London, and Paris). Prescott also passes over my discussion of the important Welsh students of Rosicrucianism—William, Thomas, and Henry Vaughan—and their association with the Stuart courts and Scottish Masons. He refers only to my brief interpretation of the different effects of English impressment practices (forced labor from the conquered, local masons) in medieval Wales and Scotland—an interpretation based on the argument by Douglas Knoop and D.P. Jones that there is almost no surviving evidence of impressment of masons in Scotland44. Edward I’s failure to replicate in Scotland his construction of ‘castles of occupation’ in Wales meant that Wales was a permanently defeated kingdom, while Scotland managed to drive out the English invaders and maintain her independence. After condemning my ‘suggestion’ as ‘a complete travesty’, Prescott devotes a long footnote to his own interpretation, which does not address the issue raised by Knoop and Jones concerning English versus Scottish policies of impressment.

the architectural design and masonic construction of sixteenth-century Scottish royal residences reﬂected this ‘system of free and open access’ between subjects and king; see his article ‘The Revival of the Entourage’, 180. 44 Knoop & Jones, Genesis of Freemasonry, 34-35.

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Finally, Prescott states that my call for less Anglo-centric scholarship is invalid because I devote much more discussion to Scotland than to Ireland and Wales; however, the signiﬁcant Jacobite-Masonic history of the latter territories really emerges in the eighteenth-century and will be the subject of my future studies. After all, those developments are called Écossais and not Irlandais or Gallois. In the meantime, Prescott conﬁnes himself to ‘Britainocentric’ research and thus seems unconcerned with and dismissive of the vast literature on Écossais Freemasonry in non-English sources, as well as the revisionist scholarship in British academic publications concerning the international Jacobite culture. That scholarship steadily produces new archival material and new interpretations that are challenging the ‘conventional wisdom’ about the nature of that complex mystical, intellectual, artistic, and political movement, which underlay the alternative, anti-Hanoverian Masonic developments in the eighteenth century. Prescott’s mockery of my characterization of Restoring the Temple of Vision as ‘a prolegomena to future works on eighteenth- and nineteenth-century occultist Freemasonry in Britain, Scandinavia, and Europe’ is gratuitous, since I have already lectured and published extensively on those subjects and intend to carry them even further in forthcoming books (including one that he has asked to publish at his Centre). I assume that he intends his sweeping statement that ‘Schuchard evidently plans a vast anti-Whig history of the world’ to be amusing. Thus, it is not inappropriate for me to quote two ‘amusing’ Masonic anecdotes, separated by more than two centuries, which articulate a continuing problem for researchers into Masonic history—i.e., the chauvinistic refusal of most English Masonic authors to take seriously French developments within Freemasonry, much less French historians of Jacobite-Écossais rites. In the 1760s, after Baron Tschoudy asserted in La Étoile Flamboyant that ‘Le premier loge connue en Europe fut, dit-on, installée à Edimbourg par le Lord Stuard’, he gave a description of English xenophobia, often expressed by calling any foreigner ‘Le French Dog’: ‘la détester de si bonne foi, qu’elle ne fait pas mieux marquer son dédain pour tout ce qui n’est pas né à Londres ou dans le Royaume, qu’en appellant tout étranger Frenchd, François’45. In the 1990s, while I was working in the Masonic library in
45 Tschoudy, L’Étoile Flamboyante, 85, 89. Tschoudy’s complaint was echoed by a Scottish architect in London. After Robert Mylne (direct descendant of the Stuart Master Masons) won the contract to construct Blackfriars Bridge in 1760, his payment was delayed for many years, because ‘Much of London in the 1760s, not only the mob, but also many of the City’s politicians, was xenophobic towards both Scots and Irish, to say nothing of the French’. See Woodley, ‘‘A very mortifying situation’’, 181.

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London, I explained to a major English Masonic historian and Grand Lodge ofﬁcial that I was researching developments in eighteenth-century Écossais systems in France. I was startled by his angry response: ‘But the frogs have no authentic Freemasonry!’ Though I do not believe that Dr. Prescott shares this chauvinistic attitude, it is worrisome that he seems to adopt in his review the defensive tone and intemperate language that is accepted practice in Quatuor Cornonati lodge meetings, especially when the invited lecturers deviate from the orthodox version of history promoted in ofﬁcial Grand Lodge publications. Tempers especially ﬂare into what one member proudly calls ‘righteous ire and indignation’ when alternative “French” or Jacobite interpretations are given to Masonic affairs46. Though several reform-minded brothers are trying to open these English sessions to outside scholars, who sometimes question Grand Lodge orthodoxy, they seem to be engaging in an uphill battle. Thus, many of us who attempt to investigate this difﬁcult historical territory hoped that the establishment of the Centre for Research into Freemasonry at the University of Shefﬁeld, with Dr. Prescott (a non-Mason) as Director, would move English research beyond that provincial and close-minded attitude. Surprisingly, Prescott’s sweeping generalizations and hyperbolic expressions (‘excessive credulity, enters the realm of fantasy, plucks out of the air, tunnel vision, hoary legends, complete travesty, positively reckless, preposterous’, etc.) seem to echo the vituperative verbal responses (‘absolute rubbish, simple nonsense, balderdash’, etc.) often expressed at London meetings of the “research lodge”. Such responses bear little resemblance to the expected civil discourse of academic debate. Though Prescott’s Centre at the University was founded and funded by the London Grand Lodge, we trust that the scholarly opinions of French “dogs” and “frogs” (and their international colleagues) will ﬁnd a more receptive atmosphere at Shefﬁeld. Then the Centre will live up to its promise as a disinterested, academic forum for various viewpoints and multiple interpretations of Freemasonry, including its controversial roots and complex ramiﬁcations in Britain and abroad.

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on Spanish dominion of America. In the United States. The story of the Madoc myth was. Spain and the ﬂedgling United States for control of the American interior. Charles I or Charles II were themselves freemasons. inspired crazed expeditions across uncharted territory in search of the Welsh Indians. Within masonic history. the eisteddfod committee disqualiﬁed the essay so that it was not printed. When Thomas Stephens.. Welsh history has its own distinctive narrative (or indeed narratives). 202. jostling together. There is as yet no convincing evidence to support the idea that James VI and I. a fact which was to prove unpallatable when the evidence for the story was more rigorously examined. actively promoted in both Britain and Europe by legions of masonic writers in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries. the analysis of legend and its function in history. for the history of all peoples has largely been a matter of motor-myths’4. an ‘idea-that-walks’. the legend that the Stuart kings actively participated in pre-Grand Lodge freemasonry. and became a signiﬁcant force in rivalry between Britain. but beyond this the historian should also examine the way in which myth and legend can shape history. In Williams’ words: ‘Now that professional Welsh history has come of age and fulﬁlled its ﬁrst duty. as do the histories of Scotland. Part of the fascination of Williams’ book is the way in which it vividly shows how British history consists of many different narratives of different nations and people. France. Ireland and England. it became our most elaborate historical myth and exercised a direct inﬂuence on our history’. in the words of Bernard de Voto cited by Williams. to clear the ground of legend.
. submitted to the Llangollen eisteddfod in 1858 what Williams describes as ‘one of the ﬁnest essays in historical criticism to be written in any language’. The ﬁrst duty of the historian is to establish what is legend and what is supported by reliable evidence. but the dissemination of the legend that they were tells us a great deal about the history of freemasonry in
4
Ibid. ‘by far the most widespread legend of pre-Columban discovery. provoking a near riot. But the most important message of Williams’ book is that myths and legends are as important in shaping history as real events. a pharmacist of Merthyr Tydﬁl. was clearly another motor myth. showing beyond any doubt that the Madoc legend was not supported by any evidence. it is moving into a more sophisticated enterprise—the relocation of these legends in history. But none of this meant that the legend was true. Welsh history cannot be represented by token references to Welsh people who ﬁgure in the histories of other countries.

Popularised by Carlile and Higgins. as Richard Sandbach has noted6. 32. an enthusiastic freemason under the Grand Orient of France. however. The effects of these beliefs were fundamental driving forces in the intellectual history of freemasonry. and Annie Besant. One of the most evident is that which stems from Thomas Paine5. There is a pressing need to investigate the career of this legend. The Age of Reason. this view of freemasonry had a direct inﬂuence on the English radicals Charles Bradlaugh. Ibid. Reprinting his exposure as a Manual of Freemasonry. who was thoroughly acquainted with the traditions associated with Ecossais freemasonry. Revd. Sandbach. Through Carlile. Oliver accepted that freemasonry went back to the beginning of time. Some obvious lines of descent can be made out from the most superﬁcial examination. Paine wrote a short essay on freemasonry. George Oliver. These ideas were also taken up and developed much further by the pioneering writer on comparative religion. was the effect of the work of Carlile and Higgins on Grand Lodge freemasonry in England. Even more remarkable. This essay was inﬂuenced and perhaps directly inspired by Paine’s associate. and the pamphlet was ﬁrst published in an expurgated form by Bonneville’s widow. Paine argued that freemasonry represented the remnants of the ancient pre-christian sun religion. who later published an exposure of freemasonry in his journal The Republican. Godfrey Higgins. 34-35. who played a fundamental role in introducing co-masonry into England. Carlile became convinced that Paine was right in arguing that freemasonry was an allegory of the ancient pre-christian religion and that freemasonry was the key to understanding how christianity was a blasphemous perversion of ancient religions. in the way that Williams did for Madoc. intended to form part of a response to the attack by the Bishop of Llandaff on Paine’s deistic treatise.
. of which the Druids had been the priests. but argued that the religion it preﬁgured was christianity7. was a direct reaction to the ideas of Carlile and particularly Higgins. it is essential for understanding the mentality of
5 6 7
This is described in more detail in my paper ‘The Cause of Humanity’. Although Oliver’s historical work is now completely discredited.. The ﬁrst complete version of Paine’s text was published by his disciple Richard Carlile. George Oliver. these ideas were to have an astonishing impact on Victorian freemasonry in Britain. As is well known. The work of the supreme ideologue of Victorian freemasonry. Nicholas de Bonneville.SEARCHING FOR WELSH INDIANS
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the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries.

one of the most inﬂuential Madoc propagandists. offered a masonic argument in favour of the existence of the Welsh Indians. This in his view demonstrated their Welsh roots. but rather to produce a narrative of Anglo-Scottish (as opposed to British) history which proceeds from the assumption that many of the legends of Stuart involvement in freemasonry promulgated in the eighteenth and nineteenth century had some basis in historical fact. but she is not doing this. she has chosen not to write this much-needed book. This is a simple illustration of one line of development of the “motormyths” of freemasonry. found their paths crossing and encountered other legends on the way. Since this is the case. reliable and above all contemporary evidence to support these assertions? It is my contention that the evidence presented by Schuchard fails
8 9
I discuss this further in my forthcoming article. Is there explicit. He pointed out that certain Indian activities ‘resemble our lodges of freemasons’. Colonel Amos Stoddart. One writer on Madoc at the beginning of the nineteenth century. 194. Unfortunately. ‘A Body without a Soul?’. at one point we ﬁnd the myths of freemasonry meeting Madoc’s Welsh Indians. the tests that have to be applied to her work are the conventional and routine tests applied to historical evidence. If Schuchard was analysing the impact of these myths and the reasons for their elaboration. than any other part of Europe’9.
. Madoc. Charles I and Charles II were all “mason kings”. they wandered down many unlikely byways.206
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freemasonry in the late nineteenth century. As these legends became ideas-that-walked. Williams. The inauguration of the school of research associated with the English Quatuor Coronati lodge represented a positivistic reaction to Oliver’s huge mass of writings on the history of freemasonry. I would warmly applaud her work. and the founders of the Quatuor Coronati lodge were anxious to rescue freemasonry from the charge levelled by more critically-minded readers of Oliver and his precursors Anderson and Preston that its historical claims were spurious. Godfrey Higgins was inﬂuenced in his work by the Welsh poet and social visionary Iolo Morganwg. and that this both requires a reappraisal of the history of their reigns and alters our perception of earlier history. She proposes that James VI and I. since ‘the knowledge of freemasonry was mostly conﬁned to the Druids’ and Wales ‘was more fruitful of this description of men. Many of the esoteric movements associated with Victorian freemasonry emerged from under the cloak of Oliver8. There are few writers in English better qualiﬁed than Keith Schuchard to undertake such an archaeology of masonic mythology and legends. For example.

146-148. a proliﬁc masonic scholar of Scottish parentage who also wrote on Jacobite freemasonry.’13. by the collection and comparatively recent publication of many of the interesting records above alluded to. . A. Visiting Perth in 1872-3. ‘Charter of Scoon and Perth Lodge. 132-134. Ibid. . . In trying to establish my case. but again he was more interested in its evidence for the practice of freemasonry in seventeenthcentury Scotland. 411. Hughan. Gould argued that the mass of material accumulated by Hughan and others provided much ﬁrmer evidence of the antiquity of freemasonry than the fantasies of Anderson or Oliver:
It will be seen that. In discussing the document shortly afterwards in his History of Freemasonry. 1658’. the “Scoon and Perth” lodge..D. It was reprinted again in the Masonic Monthly a year later12. William James Hughan. He commented that ‘Any who read and study the literature of the Craft. on which he did not comment. so much evidence has been
10 11 12 13
Gould. Robert Freke Gould reprinted the Scone agreement. Ibid. but it is necessary to perform that fundamental duty of the historian in clearing the ground of legend before proceeding to undertake the more sophisticated and interesting forms of analysis which Williams suggests. and reprinted the text in the Masonic Monthly for October 187811. I am conscious that I run the risk of that ‘positivistic excess’ which Williams laments has affected discussion of Madoc.. though dating from 1658. by one of the founders of Quatuor Coronati Lodge. but he later came across the text of the 1658 agreement in the 1866 edition of the by-laws of the lodge. 3. had evidently been in working order for many years anterior to the dating of its charter. like many of the other documents of seventeenth-century Scottish freemasonry. This document was ﬁrst brought to wider attention.
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these fundamental tests. Hughan was unable to secure access to the archives of the Scoon and Perth lodge10. For Hughan the main interest of the text was that it offered ﬁrm evidence of the practice of freemasonry in seventeenth-century Scotland. The only seventeenth-century source for the statement that James VI and I was a freemason is the 1658 agreement which is the oldest document in the archive of the masonic lodge in Scotland which is now the Scoon and Perth Lodge No. 146. Hughan thought this more signiﬁcant that the reference to James VI’s initiation. or who are familiar with the “Cosmopolitan Calendar” will be aware that there are many lodges in Scotland which date from beyond the last century . History.

. of the ancient freemasonry which immediately preceded their institution. Like Hughan and Gould. Paton. intended to document and celebrate the intimate connection between the Mylne family and the ofﬁce of Principal Master Mason to the crown18. building on earlier labours by his father. Accounts. All subsequent discussion to date has depended on Mylne’s transcript of this document and on the other materials relating to the Mylne family assembled by him. 18 Cf. which will be demonstrated without requiring the exercise of either dogmatism or credulity. History. Mylne’s treatise on the King’s Master Masons expends itself mostly on members of his own ancestry who held this ofﬁce during the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries’. 411.’
Gould declared that the ﬁnal clause of the Scone agreement. Robert Scott Mylne’s pioneering study of The Master Masons to the Crown of Scotland17. Master Masons. but it is important to bear in mind that it was a work of family piety. 3. 128-30. A report of Mylne’s book was promptly made to the Quatuor Coronati lodge by Edward Macbean. particularly those from France.
14 15
. that the Grand Lodges of Great Britain are the direct descendants. 17 Mylne. as to be almost embarrassing. . and character of the craft. Ibid. progress. referring to the claim that because of James’ membership the lodge (if well run) was the most famous in the kingdom. a view in which
Gould. 16 Ibid. the Scone agreement came to the notice of the wider scholarly community with the publication of Rev.. 19 Mylne. In 1893. was a huge antiquarian compilation. which assembles an enormous amount of archival material on the history of building in Scotland. Gould does not explicitly discuss the document’s claim that King James was initiated in the lodge. but his sarcastic aside.. 412. and stated that the story of the initiation of King James was generally considered apocryphal. by continuity and absorption. and the proposition may be safely advanced.14.208
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collected respecting the early history. 381. Mylne’s work. Mylne printed the agreement without any critical discussion of its contents19. suggests that Gould felt that the Scoon and Perth lodge was anticipating later masonic lodges in making exaggerated claims of its fame and antiquity. Master Masons. xxx: ‘Beyond incidental allusions to some of the master masons. ‘Well Done Perth!’16. with its reference to the ‘glorious luminary of nature’ was ‘suggestive that speculative freemasonry was then not wholly unknown in the city of Perth’15. in which he described the Scone agreement.

Brother Macbean has no ground for his gratuitous remark therefore he ought not to have made it. D. 83. The earlier versions of the list of notable masonic dates in for example the 1957 Year Book do not mention James’s initiation. after a facsmilie of the 1658
20 21
. Apart from Gould’s aside. 7. . In 1898. This tradition. with the exception of this brother. History. ‘Master Masons of Scotland’. established by Smith. Lodge Scoon and Perth No. but general history is silent on matters of much greater importance. It became accepted in the 1950s by the Grand Lodge of Scotland. 24 Bell. Crawford Smith published a history of the Scoon and Perth Lodge which included a facsimile of the 1658 agreement and a new transcript of it21. . who considers the reception of King James apocryphal. and that the brethren who signed the document agreed to promulgate a lie . 45-7. He can furnish no evidence in support of his remark therefore he ought to withdraw it in the same public manner in which he has made it. Smith simply suggests that Macbean’s comment was ungentlemanly because it cast aspersions on the honour of his fellow freemasons: ‘There can be no doubt of the truth of this statement unless we are to suppose. has been perpetuated ever since in the lodge’s histories24. Smith made a further leap and declared that James must have been initiated when he visited Perth on 15 April 1601. We do not ourselves consider [the agreement] historically accurate in every point. 49-50. that the writer of this agreement deliberately sat down and wrote a falsehood. His statement is without knowledge and his assertion without proof ’22. which no reasonable man can. His remark is born of a desire to be thought critical. 82 and 83. between pp. this was the ﬁrst occasion on which the claim of the Scoon and Perth lodge to have included King James in its ranks was discussed. The facsimile of the 1658 agreement is reproduced in Year Book of the Grand Lodge. Gould and other members of the lodge concurred20. 3’. and the list of ‘notable masonic dates’ in the Grand Lodge’s Year Book still states that James VI and I was initiated in the lodge Scoon and Perth in 160125. 25 Jubilee Year Book. but we have no knowledge of any masonic writer. 101-108. Peddle in the 1930s. 46. Smith took issue with Macbean’s claim that the story of James’s initiation was apocryphal.SEARCHING FOR WELSH INDIANS
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Hughan.
Macbean. painted by Brother T. 3.H. depicting James kneeling at an altar on the occasion of his initiation: Bell. ‘Lodge Scoon and Perth No. but. History. History. The hall used by the lodge has a mural. Assuming therefore that the tradition recorded in the 1658 agreement was true. Smith. was made a burgess of the borough and appointed honorary provost23. but offered no scholarly grounds for disagreeing with Macbean. 22 Smith. 23 Smith. It is true that general history does not corroborate the fact. 51-54.

This still provides perhaps the strongest argument in favour of accepting the claim in the 1658 agreement that James became a member of the lodge. there are serious objections to this proposition. inﬂuenced by the absurdities of later masonic historians in claiming that practically every king had been a mason. It should be noted that 41 Brethren signed the contract aforesaid. First Freemasons. Nevertheless. xiii. Stevenson’s careful analy-
agreement was included in the 1958 Year Book. let me say that he was simply one of several. including myself. Stevenson comments that ‘a ﬁrst reaction. it is possible that at least some of them were speaking from personal knowledge. on behalf of the Lodge at Perth. as will be seen. John Mylne. On a careful study of the matter. been preserved of the occurence. After Hughan. Stevenson counsels that this document is worth at least a closer glance: ‘in view of James’s well known intellectual curiosity. 26 Smith. and my friend Bro. so that a goodly number of the members believed that his Majesty had been made a Free Mason as described’26. However. 101-3. 27 Stevenson. In noting the claim that James was a freemason. 1601 was added to the list of notable masonic dates.
.210
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The preface to Smith’s history was written by Hughan. which contains the statement of the King’s initiation. is to dismiss Scone’s claim out of hand’. who had been made an honorary member of the Scoon and Perth lodge and found himself in the embarrassing situation of introducing a book written by the Worshipful Master of the Scoon and Perth lodge which strongly criticised a fellow member of the Quatuor Coronati lodge. who at one time looked upon such admission as apocryphal. I see no reason whatever to question the assertion of the ordinance of 1658. However. though it would have been still more satisfactory had an actual Lodge minute. and it is certainly the case that. Hughan’s reappraisal therefore depended on the assumption that all the signatures to the document dated from 1658. if a sufﬁciently large number of members of the lodge declared in 1658 that James had been a member. there was no further scholarly discussion of the agreement until David Stevenson’s analysis of it in 198827. History. Hughan commented: ‘Concerning the reception of King James VI as a “Freeman Mason” by Bro. Macbean’s doubts thereon. and the fact that he was the ﬁrst King of Scots to condescend to be made a burgess— and that in Perth (1601)—indicates that the idea of his being intrigued by the idea of a craft organisation which hinted that it possessed esoteric knowledge is not completely unthinkable’. or some other contemporary record.

dated 24 December 1658. died. One would have expected that. it is advisable here to revisit the 1658 agreement.
. This seems to have created a crisis in the affairs of the lodge. between members of the stonemasons’ lodge meeting at Perth. as Stevenson emphasises. The Scone document is an agreement. the master of the lodge. as the document was signed by more than forty members of the lodge. Schuchard would have included a more extended discussion of it in her book. it is usual ﬁrst to consider if the document is contemporary. in rejecting Stevenson’s analysis. Since the claim of James’s initiation occurred in a section of the document which was factually suspect. as an appendix to this article. no new evidence has been produced which was not already in Robert Scott Mylne’s book and available to Stevenson28. I have included a transcript. it was the practice for sometime after the document was drawn up for new members of the lodge to sign it to conﬁrm their acceptance of its regulations: ‘most of the signatures were added later. This lodge claimed to date back to the building of nearby Scone Abbey in the middle ages. There is no doubt that the Scone agreement is really a document from 1658. as
28
The works by Colvin and Howard cited by Schuchard both rely on Mylne’s work. there is a chance that at least some of them might be speaking from personal knowledge. but since she does not. The agreement sought to resolve this crisis by recording the appointment of a new master and warden and stipulating a series of regulations. Stevenson rejected the idea that James was a mason. contemporary evidence of what was happening in the reign of a King who died more than thirty years previously or an event which (if it is accepted that the most likely date for James’s initiation was 1601) took place more than ﬁfty years before. and that it provides evidence as to what was happening in the stonemasons’ lodge in Scone in 1658. Members of the lodge signiﬁed their acceptance of these regulations by signing the agreement. and Stevenson’s 1988 analysis remains the only full scholarly discussion of this document. John Mylne III. In late 1657. rechecked against the facsimile. There is merit in Hughan’s argument that. and that ‘there is as much mythology as fact in this account of them’.SEARCHING FOR WELSH INDIANS
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sis points out that this section of the agreement sought to bolster the fabulous history of the Mylne family being actively propagated at that time. however. who had been Principal Master Mason to Charles I from 1631 to 1636. In appraising a piece of historical evidence. sometimes decades later. Since 1988. Since readers may not have easy access to the published transcripts by Mylne and Smith. However. It is not. ‘Which is now ffour hundred thriescor and fyve yeires since or therby’.

unless they can be substantiated from other evidence. It is necessary to consider the nature and purpose of the document. It seems that some members had been attending other lodges or that an attempt had been made to form a breakaway lodge. The text of the agreement names the new Master and Warden and those present at the meeting when the agreement was made. Since the lodge needed a master following the death of Mylne. it was agreed that James Roch should be master of the lodge for life or as long as he was willing to serve. Members who joined another lodge were threatened with swingeing ﬁnes and other punishments.
. However. The stonemasons of Perth were members of the incorporation of wrights and very much a junior partner in this body. Ibid. At best the claim of James’s initiation represents a lodge tradition current by the middle of the seventeenth century. Stevenson points out that many of the regulations in the 1658 agreement reﬂect anxieties of the Perth stonemasons about the status of their trade. and it is evident from the remainder of the agreement that the lodge had since then experienced difﬁculties. with a lengthy preamble followed by details of the transaction to which the signatories agreed. the agreement was not simply about the appointment of a new master and warden. Finally. How can one test the reliability of such a tradition? Again. with stonemasons barred from holding
29 30
Stevenson. The claims in the agreement were thus only formally attested by a handful of lodge members (possibly as few as one).212
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the records of the Incorporation of Wrights of Perth and other sources show’29. First Freemasons. Members were enjoined by the agreement not to go to other lodges or to make a new lodge among themselves. Mylne had died a year before. Andrew Norie was appointed as Warden on similar terms. The operative part of the document is thus the second half. since the existing lodge was ‘principall wthin the shyre’. The Scone agreement follows the form of a conventional indenture. then they must be regarded as suspect. It seems that there had also been rivalry among lodge members for work. and regulations were laid down to prevent masons poaching work and manpower from their brethren. the agreement stipulated dues to be paid by fellow crafts and apprentices. the standard tools of historical criticism provide tests which are helpful in this case. 105. and this gives some impression of the crisis which had affected the lodge. only one of those named as present signed the document30. If the text includes claims in support of ex parte positions apparent elsewhere in the document. Apart from the Master and Warden.

the ﬁrst of which was the Abbey at Kilwinning. it is to be expected that those members of the lodge responsible for drawing up the 1658 agreement should stress its antiquity and elevated status. there was more recent evidence which could bolster these claims. the craft of stonemasons had enjoyed ‘ane uniforme communitie and wnione throughout the whole world’. the authors of the 1658 agreement were conscious that they had no means of verifying these claims: ‘As the Masters friemen or follow crafts did formerlie Whose names we know not’. ‘Off which ther praceided the Abbacie and Lodge of Scone built by men of Art and Architectorie’. The agreement goes on to declare that Solomon’s Temple was the progenitor of other temples in Scotland. here it is again:
But to our own recoon and knowledge of our predecessors ther cam one from the North countrie named Johne Mylne ane measone a man weill experted in his calling who enterd himselff both frieman & burges of this brugh Who in proces off tyme (by reasone off his skill and airt) was preferred to be the Kings
. In the speciﬁc context of 1658. and it was without question the second lodge in the kingdom. then at Bertha (according to medieval legend the precursor of Perth) and ﬁnally at Perth. but for the sake of clarity. the Perth stonemasons would naturally have been anxious to stress the antiquity and elevated character of their lodge. However.SEARCHING FOR WELSH INDIANS
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senior ofﬁces in the incorporation. The ﬁrst section of the document is designed to demonstrate that the Scoon and Perth lodge was one of the oldest and prestigious in Scotland. The 1658 agreement uses a claim of descent from the lodge at Kilwinning and an alleged connection with Scone Abbey to make a forceful case that it ranked second among the Scottish masonic lodges. following the loss of a powerful leader in John Mylne III and worried about the formation of new lodges. outranked only by Kilwinning itself. from the time of the building of the temple of temples. Stevenson remarks that this is the ﬁrst explicit reference in Scotland to the myth of Solomon’s Temple as the source for the later skills and achievements of the craft of stonemasonry. Schuchard has already cited the relevant section of the document. Thus. This lodge had been upheld by the Kings of Scotland at Scone. This is apparently a completely spurious claim. the lodge at Scone had been in existence for 465 years. claims the agreement. Luckily. namely the close connections of the lodge with the crown through the Mylne family. but it would nevertheless in 1658 have been a powerful argument against any Perth masons trying to form a breakaway lodge. Kilwinning had in turn been the precursor of many other temples in Scotland. unsupported by earlier documentation such as the Schaw statutes. and in the ﬁrst half of the document this is precisely what they do. It declares that. In this context.

It was designed to support an ex parte claim by members of the lodge and is inherently untrustworthy. and Mr off the said lodge in the reigne off his Majestie King James the sixt of blesed memorie. the Mylnes were closely associated with the ofﬁce of Principal Master Mason to the Crown. the statement that James was a member of the lodge fails the second major test of textual analysis which can be applied to this document. The Mylne family was one of the most remarkable of all architectural dynasties. If this information can be shown to be correct. deceased. and was intended speciﬁcally to bolster these claims and to show that the lodge was ‘the most famous lodge (if well ordered) within this kingdom’. entered ffrieman measone and ffellow craft And during all his Lyftyme he mantayned the same as ane member off the Lodge off Scone So that this Lodge is the most fo mous Lodge (iff well ordored) within this kingdome Off the which name of Mylne ther hath contenewed severall gennrationes Mr Measones to his Maties the Kings of Scotland and Mrs off the said Lodge of Scone till the year one thousand six hundred and ﬁftie seven yeires at qch tyme the last Mr Mylne being Mr off the Lodge off Scone. However. then maybe the beneﬁt of the doubt can be given to its claims about King James. described him as
. the son of the John Mylne who had been Master of the Scone lodge and whose death had precipitated the Scone agreement.
The claim that King James was a member of the lodge occurs in a section of the agreement containing a number of dubious claims of precedence on the behalf of the Perth lodge designed to deter troublemakers within the lodge.214
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Maties Mr Measone and Master of the said Lodge at Scone. Principal Master Mason to Charles I and Charles II. Who by the said second Johne Mylne wes be the kings own desere. The agreement gives detailed circumstantial information about the connection of the Mylne family with the lodge. members of the family being prominent in Scottish and indeed British architecture from the ﬁfteenth to the nineteenth centuries. there is one ﬁnal test which can be applied. The parenthetical statement ‘if well ordered’ seems to have been aimed directly against those who had been seeking to undermine the position of the lodge. Moreover. a connection of which members of the family were very proud from an early date. And his sone Johne Milne being (after his fathers deceis—preferred to the said ofﬁce. and declares that James was initiated by the ﬁrst Mylne to serve as master of the lodge. In this way. The epitaph to John Mylne IV (d. Not only is this section of the Scone not contemporary with the event it describes but it is also evidently biased in its description of it. 1667).

and it is tempting to suggest that we are missing the name of one or more Principal Master Masons at this point. vii. 33 Paton. lx-lxi. On the history of this ofﬁce. but it seems unlikely that he lived until as late as 1617. It was cherished by later generations of the Mylne family. was invested with a ﬁxed yearly fee. This tradition was evidently current and widely accepted at the time this epitaph was set up by the Incorporated Trades of Edinburgh in 1668. xxxii-xxxv. John Brownbill (16 January 1532). Robert Mylne (28 February 1668)33
The only hiatus in this line of succession is between John Roytell and William Wallace. 159. The ofﬁce of Principal Master Mason was. see also Paton. . Master Masons. However. but these were subsequently reﬁned by Henry Paton. Some of the Principal Master Masons were debarred from undertaking work for clients other than the King. and Imrie & Dunbar. . and Revd. William Wallace (18 April 1617).
31 32
. Accounts. lix-lxx. it was tenable for life. Accounts. Their appointments are recorded in the Privy Seal Register. John Mylne IV (1 February 1636). The Principal Master Mason was appointed for life by a commission from the King and received a salary from the crown. Its history corresponds to other appointments of like nature’: Mylne. Nicolas Roy (22 April 1539). .
Mylne. Moses Martin (1 December 1536). Accounts. in the introductions to their editions of the Accounts of the Masters of the Works. . Roytell was still in ofﬁce as late as 1582. xxx-xxxv.SEARCHING FOR WELSH INDIANS
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. John Imrie and John Dunbar. Robert Scott Mylne’s work on the Master Masons to the crown was designed to document and conﬁrm this family tradition. Mylne was the ﬁrst to compile lists of the holders of this ofﬁce. The Fourth John And by descent from Father unto Son Sixth Master Mason to a Royal Race of Seven Successive Kings . These establish that the sucession of Principal Master Masons from 1529 to 1715 was as follows (dates of appointment given in brackets):
John Ayton (to 1532). Imrie and Dunbar. John Mylne III (4 June 1617). as Mylne emphasises at the beginning of his book. John Roytell (10 March 1557). Thomas French (30 April 1535). a formal ofﬁce. Accounts.31. which are indispensable resources for those studying the history of building in Scotland at this time. ‘The ofﬁce of Principal Master Mason to the Crown was one of the Ofﬁces of the Court from the time of James V to the death of Queen Anne. like that of Overseer of the Works and Master Wright32. Like other similar posts. and certain small perquisites. Master Masons.

Somerville was writing in 1679. There is one potential source of confusion which might help explain Somerville’s remark. 1621) was ‘the King’s Master Measonne’. and the ﬁrst ﬁrmly attested appointment of a Mylne as Principal Master Mason was of John Mylne III in 1617. citing Macgibbon and Ross as follows: ‘We ﬁnd that several master masons are engaged at one and the same time at Linlithgow . Paton. The master masons were paid like the ordinary masons by day’s wages. about whose tenure of this ofﬁce there is no doubt37. that John Mylne II (d. 191-193.
. It is possible that some of the Mylnes were employed as master masons of the King’s works in this way. in addition. 65. sometimes for life. .216
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Wallace’s letter of appointment makes it clear that there had been no previous appointments to this ofﬁce: ‘our Souerane Lord vnderstanding that his hienes darrest mother of worthie memorie maid and constitut vmquhile Johne Roytell Frencheman principall maister maissoun to all his hienes warkis concerning the aucupatioun during all the dayis of his lyfetyme And gaue and grantit to him any certane ﬁe for exercising of the said ofﬁce And that be his deceis the said ofﬁce is now vacant’ . cited by Mylne35 and repeated by Colvin. Ibid. p. an annual salary. and the king’s master mason received. 216-217. . sometimes at pleasure’36. Nevertheless. but at a higher rate. by which time the myth of the six Mylne royal master masons had taken strong root. . . This is stressed by Paton. In assessing the
34 35 36 37
Mylne. 38-39. The ‘reinforcing information’ which Schuchard claims is presented by Deborah Howard of the Mylne connection with the ofﬁce of Principal Master Mason all refers to John Mylne III and John Mylne IV. Howard. Master Masons. 70. and it is difﬁcult to give credence to second-hand anecdotes such as Lord Somerville’s claim. . Each master mason had a small gang or company of masons. Scottish Architecture. Accounts.34. the Principal Master Mason himself employed master masons to undertake work on royal palaces and castles. a hundred years after the event he describes. in that while the ofﬁce of Principal Master Mason was a distinct one with a single holder. and that this may have been the root of the myth of the six members of the Mylne family had been royal master masons. there was a clear distinction between the Principal Master Mason and master masons in royal employment. The succession of Principal Master Masons is thus quite clear. . who worked along with him and are called his “servants” . 44-46. xxxi..

he assumed that two Mylnes served as Principal Master Masons before the ﬁrst appointment to the ofﬁce recorded in the Register of the Privy Seal in 1532. 40 Ibid. who was afterwards President of the Council. and it is far more likely that any involvement in the royal works of Alexander. Mylne was on slightly ﬁrmer ground with his next candidate. Abbot of Cambuskenneth. was more administrative in character. He pointed out that the name of Thomas Mylne appears in a list of names of the incorporation of masons and wrights in Edinburgh in 1559. Nevertheless. First. and the appointment of William Wallace in 1617. is where the other two ﬁtted in. without any further evidence. according to the Privy Seal Register. He proposed that four earlier members of the family had served as Principal Master Mason. but unfortunately did not print this source39. the key issue is whether earlier generations of the Mylne family served as Principal Master Masons. This. However. Mylne proposed. In establishing the succession of Principal Master Masons. Paton. 41 Ibid. 30. he was only the second. 30-1. 54. Mylne looked at the apparent vacancy in the ofﬁce between the death of John Roytell. Mylne also notes that Alexander audited the books of accounts for royal building work40.. and that a Thomas Mylne was made a burgess of Dundee in 1593 and was buried at Elgin in 1605. who as a canon of Dunkeld had been Master of Works for the rebuilding of the bridge there. Mylne suggested. Accounts.
. It is not even clear if these refer to the same person. 55. Mylne cited in support of this claim a register in the Lyon ofﬁce referring to one Alexander Mylne as Master Mason to James V. Robert Scott Mylne proceeded to try and patch up the family legends. He proposed that John Mylne had been the Master Mason of Kings James III and IV. 195-7 and 234. In order to ﬁnd his other two Mylnes who served as Principal Master Masons.. 5. 39 Mylne.SEARCHING FOR WELSH INDIANS
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Scone agreement. sometime after 1582. Master Masons. or if this person or persons had any relationship to the later Mylnes. that ‘Thomas Mylne. John Mylne IV was supposed to have been the sixth Mylne to have served as Principal Master Mason but. the grandson of John. John’s appointment is marked with a question mark in Mylne’s pedigree. 114. cf. Robert Scott Mylne created a problem for himself. but cited no evidence in support of this apart from family tradition38. all this is very tenuous. He also suggested that Alexander Mylne. Master Masons. John Mylne II
38 Mylne. also served brieﬂy as Principal Master Mason. must have exercised the ofﬁce of Master Mason’41.

As has been seen. 1621). 90: John Mylne II was appointed to start work on the Tay Bridge on 4 June 1605. First Freemasons. 34. and that Robert Scott Mylne was wrong in elevating his ancestor to this post. there can be no doubt that the much later statements by Somerville and the Scone lodge that John Mylne II was Principal Master Mason must be rejected. 44 Mylne. and excluded them from his deﬁnitive list of the holders of this ofﬁce43.
42 43
. It states that this man was called John Mylne. He undertook various works at Dundee. 101-102. and became a burgess of the borough in 1587. However. let us now revisit what the Scone agreement says about the Mylne family. Mylne was admitted to the freedom of Perth in 1607. he did not come from the north. and that no appointments had been made since his death. Moreover. In the face of this clear-cut contemporary evidence. Master Masons. Paton. the only evidence that Mylne was able to offer that his ancestor served as Principal Master Mason were the Scone agreement and the 1679 statement of Lord Somerville already mentioned. 89-103. Accordingly. However. At least there could be no doubt about the accomplishments of John Mylne II as a mason42. that by his skill and art he became both a freeman and burgess of Perth. that he ‘came from the North countrie’. the Scone agreement makes it clear that this was not the man who inititiated James VI and I. In the light of this analysis. Accounts. His greatest achievement was the building of a new bridge over the River Tay at Perth between 1605 and 1617. According to the agreement this
Ibid. the ﬁrst mason of this name to work in Perth was John Mylne II. 45 Stevenson. and was never Principal Master Mason. Henry Paton rejected the claim that Thomas Mylne and John Mylne II were Principal Master Masons as ‘somewhat hypothetical’. If John Mylne II. who began work on the bridge at Perth in 160544. who did indeed become a burgess of the borough and. since the masonic lodge was in existence at this time45. doubtless also became master of the lodge. who was still alive in 1617.218
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(d. was appointed the King’s Principal Master Mason and became Master of the lodge of stonemasons. including the repair of the harbour and the erection of a market cross.. Instead. It begins by describing the ﬁrst member of the family to come to Perth. Wallace’s appointment is emphatic that the last Principal Master Mason was John Roytell. had served as Principal Master Mason. having previously worked in Dundee. there can be no doubt that this would have been mentioned in the letter appointing William Wallace to this ofﬁce. 65-69.

when he was presented with several poems by Henry Adamson. The Scone agreement thus garbles the history of the Mylne family and falsely claims two members of the family as Principal Master Masons. since the previous holder of the ofﬁce was John Roytell. If John Mylne II did indeed initiate James VI and I. The agreement then declares that John Mylne II became Principal Master Mason after his father’s death. the Scone agreement suggests that John Mylne II was the son of a Principal Master Mason who was also a burgess of Perth. doubt must be felt as to whether it would have been possible to initiate James into a masonic lodge in the goldﬁsh bowl atmosphere of his 1617 progress. which declares that ‘Off the which
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honour fell to his son. there is no reliable contemporary evidence that John Mylne II ever held this ofﬁce and even Robert Scott Mylne. In other words. and is unlikely to have been master of the masons’ lodge there before then. and was not a burgess until 1607. James’s progress included a visit to Perth on 5 July 1617. including his verses in praise of Mylne’s bridge. this was the only occasion on which it could have happened. it is chronologically impossible that he did so before James acceded to the English throne in 1603. Moreover. In any case. This garbling of the Mylne family history in the Scone agreement is further compounded by the next sentence. Yet James visited Scotland just once after he became King of England. Such an event would surely have been mentioned in the detailed reports which were being sent back to England. but there is no evidence of the existence of such a person. If James was initiated at Perth by James Mylne II. when his every movement was being reported back to the English court. Again. However. also called John. Mylne only began work in Perth in June 1605. The ﬁrst Mylne described in the Scone agreement was completely ﬁctitious. since he would not have had any further direct contact with the lodge for the few remaining years of his life. it is impossible to marry up this ﬁrst part of the Mylne family history in the Scone agreement with the known information about the family. Mylne’s pedigree suggests that the father of John Mylne II was Thomas Mylne. who put forward the unsafe hypothesis that John Mylne II may have held the ofﬁce brieﬂy in the 1580s. if James was only initiated in 1617. the statement in the Scone agreement that ‘during all his Lyftyme he mantayned the same as ane member off the Lodge off Scone’ sounds unconvincing. never suggested that he inherited the ofﬁce from his father. These chronological difﬁculties about James’s initiation again emphasise the implausibility of the information about the Mylne family given in the Scone agreement. This was in 1617. No matter what permutation of Mylnes we try.

. Evidently somebody in Perth in 1658 was twisting the history of the Mylne family and thus that of the masonic lodge to suit their own ends. ‘Well done Perth!’ Historical information in contemporary documents can be difﬁcult to apraise. to quote Gould again. ‘as much mythology as fact’. At best. The ‘severall generationes’ of Mylnes claimed by the agreement as Master Masons and Masters of the lodge simply did not exist. The claim that James VI and I was a member of the lodge was part of this strategy of textual aggrandisement. and indeed makes its own substantial additions to that mythology. deceased. it is ﬁctitious. Or. The agreement was attested by few members of the lodge and is unlikely to embody personal knowledge. The story that King James became a freemason is. 25-7. The need for rigour in interpretation of source materials is further illustrated by the source cited
46
Ibid. It attempts to substantiate this by drawing on the (at that stage) largely ﬁctitious claims of the Mylne family to a close connection with the crown. historical information for which we have only later witnesses is often nothing short of a quagmire and frequently unreliable. the John Mylne who died in 1657 was the son of John Mylne II. In fact. only these two John Mylnes served as Masters of the masonic lodge in Perth. this ﬁrst section of the Scone agreement contains. and was the ﬁrst member of his family who served as Principal Master Mason. By every standard test of documentary analysis.’ Anybody reading this without prior knowledge of the Mylne family would assume that there were a number of Mylnes who served as Principal Master Masons and Masters of the Perth lodge. Indeed.220
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name of Mylne ther hath contenewed severall gennrationes Mr Measones to his Maties the Kings of Scotland and Mrs off the said Lodge of Scone till the year one thousand six hundred and ﬁftie seven yeires at qch tyme the last Mr Mylne being Mr off the Lodge off Scone. the information in the ﬁrst part of the Scone agreement is garbled. It seeks to deal with the problems faced by the lodge in 1658 by articulating a claim to be the second oldest lodge in Scotland. at worst. and in the end it is worthless as evidence that James VI and I became a member of the Scoon and Perth lodge. as Edward Macbean put it as long ago as 1894. the claims in the Scone agreement as to the history of the lodge prior to 1657 are extremely suspect and completely untrustworthy as historical evidence. preferring the lodge in Edinburgh46. who succeeded his father as Principal Master Mason in 1636.
. in Stevenson’s words. In short. John Mylne IV. ‘apocryphal’.

This copy of the Old Charges was said to have been copied by one John Raymond in 1705 from a document compiled by Thomas Treloar in 166548. The reference to Charles II does not. but at a superﬁcial glance it may be thought at least to be contemporary. 43. Thomas Treloar (whoever he was) thought that Charles II had some kind of connection with the craft. explicitly state that he was a member of the craft. Edward the Confessor and Henry VII.SEARCHING FOR WELSH INDIANS
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by Schuchard in support of her claim that Charles II was a freemason. for doth not the Son of the Blessed Martyr rule over the whole land. who made some notes on it. Hughan. however. where or how) by the masonic scholar W. . it links his governorship of the craft with his rule as king. Ibid.H. Long may he reign in the land and govern the craft Is it not written ye shall not hurt the Lords anointed47. Oddly. 47. ‘Masonic Manuscript’. This reference is therefore not explicit. . but was apparently unsure of its textual status and so did not include it in his compendious review of the
47 48
Thorp.. Providing that it can be shown that Raymond accurately copied and dated Treloar’s text. and may simply mean that as king he was responsible for the welfare of stonemasons. Ryland’s transcript was passed over to W. And it came to pass after many days that Henry was king and he did rule over the craft And yet another Henry did rule over the whole Craft even the seventh of that name And after many days Charles did reign in the land and lo his blood was spilled upon the earth even by that traitor Cromwell Behold now the return of pleasant . It was seen sometime in the late nineteenth century (we do not know when. who do not appear in other versions of these histories:
Then was the science of Geometry ruled over by Saint Dunstan and somewhile Edward the Confessor. Rylands. we cannot be sure of this. Raymond’s original manuscript has vanished. claiming connections with ﬁgures such as St Dunstan.
The claims in this manuscript that St Dunstan and Edward the Confessor ruled the craft are unusual. Unfortunately. of course.
. the history seems to imply that Charles I was not connected with the craft. who made a copy of it. perhaps unique. The reference to Charles as a ‘governor of the craft’ occurs in a fragmentary copy of the Old Charges which contains a very unusual continuation of the legendary history of stonemasonry in England. we can at least be conﬁdent that one man in 1665.J.

There is therefore no way of knowing whether the suggestion that Charles II was a freemason is reliable. and relying only on Rylands’ modern transcript. and did Rylands himself also accurately copy Raymond’s manuscript? In many manuscripts. in reporting the Raymond Manuscript as an addition to the standard list of manuscripts of the Old Charges. did Raymond copy this addition to the legendary history from Treloar’s original work. without commenting on the description of Charles II as governor of the craft. Without Raymond’s original manuscript. Treloar’s claim was not explicit. it is not necessary to think they were true.. the best evidence that can still be mustered is a vague reference in a modern transcript of an eighteenth-century copy of an earlier text of uncertain status. There would be no need to subject Rylands’ transcript to this intensive scrutiny if we had any other evidence from Charles’ reign that he was a freemason. copied from Treloar or added by Raymond? Did Raymond copy the date of Treloar’s treatise accurately. if Charles was indeed a freemason. perhaps reﬂecting doubts as to the reliability of this information because of the uncertain provenance of the text. This in itself strongly suggests that Charles was never formally connected with freemasonry.222
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manuscripts of the Old Charges published shortly before his death. additions are afterwards made in other hands. after nearly two hundred years of intensive research. 40. and we have no contemporary manuscript of his work. Thorp did not discuss at length the reference to Charles II. Knoop. In publishing the text. we cannot be sure of the status of this section of the text. In investigating the traditions associated with Ecossais freemasonry. Wallace McLeod simply noted the additions to the legendary history as an indication of the distinctive textual character of this document. but so far none has been found. it suggests that Charles’s links with the craft were indeed tenuous. Likewise. another distinctive feature of the text. or did he add it himself? Were the Hebrew inscriptions. Early Masonic Pamphlets. but eventually published Rylands’ copy in 192649. and it is an unsafe inference. For example. anymore than it is necessary to believe
49 50
Ibid. we have know way of answering these questions in order to assess the reliability or otherwise of this text. If. Rylands’ transcript passed to John Thorp. The point that. Jones & Hamer. 125.
. who was also evidently puzzled by it. After Hughan’s death in 1911. we should expect some more deﬁnite evidence to have emerged was made as long ago as 172450. Could this have happened in the case of the Raymond manuscript? Without the original manuscript.

. particularly in continental Europe. which is the nub not only of the study of freemasonry but of all academic research. ‘Statements of students of history— Masonic or otherwise—like those of advocates in Courts of Law. the results can be counterproductive. or to believe in the bible when writing about christianity. succinctly. Trevor Stewart suggests some potential lines of enquiry which should certainly be followed up. are only to be relied upon. This was a point of which Gould. which is more likely to yield historical fruit than the method adopted by Schuchard in the present work. and it is this kind of detailed and laborious prosopographical study. 109-110 (see Schuchard’s response. However. 4. Early History. These include a detailed analysis of the readership of Ramsay’s Voyage de Cyrus. If we give too much credence to the wrong sorts of evidence. in doing so it is vital that the scholarly standards applied to the use of evidence are as rigorous as those applicable to any other ﬁeld of historical research. so far as they can be sustained by evidence’52. it is axiomatic that historical evidence for freemasonry should be treated with the same rigorous critical scrutiny as is the case in other ﬁelds of historical enquiry. Clearly the circulation of these legends about the Stuart kings in the eighteenth century were closely related to Jacobite involvement in the development of freemasonry. Another obvious line of research. Gould put the point. 28). ﬁrmly grounded in solid historical evidence. potentially far more fruitful. A refusal to accept the truth of these legends does not imply a rejection of the need to undertake research into Jacobite connections with freemasonry. methods of investigating these issues are neglected. the constant barren revisiting of Anderson means that other. We cannot afford to be less rigorous in our standards because of the inﬂuence of oral traditions current within different masonic orders. would be to use Scottish lodge records to determine the extent of masonic membership among Jacobite exiles. Hamill agreed in response to Stewart’s comments that these suggestions provide good lines for further research. during the eighteenth century. In his comments on John Hamill’s recent paper on ‘The Jacobite Conspiracy’.SEARCHING FOR WELSH INDIANS
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in Welsh Indians when writing about Prince Madoc. nt. particularly from the subscription list attached to the 1730 London edition. Hughan and the other founders
51 52
Stewart. and a correlation of the membership of London Jacobite clubs with that of masonic lodges51. Gould. Moreover. In doing so. not mentioned by Stewart. The aim of the new Centre for Research into Freemasonry at the University of Shefﬁeld is to draw the attention of mainstream scholarship in Britain to the importance of the history of freemasonry as a ﬁeld of research.

when the fables which form the texts of stump-orators have been scattered to the four winds of heaven . it has lowered our character as truthful men . . The trite observation that “truth is stranger than ﬁction” ﬁnds an apt illustration in the early histories of the fraternity. dates only from the second decade of the last century. Williams. from Anderson to Oliver. and that the craft. . now so widely dispersed over the four quarters of the globe. were actually left unheeded by our premier historiographer.
At the same time that Gould was urging masonic historians to explore the mass of original primary sources which lay forgotten in their archives. Gould’s comments are pertinent here and worth repeating:
The ordinary practice of masonic historians. Amen. as from their ﬁdelity shall obtain for us lasting honours. whilst professedly furnishing proofs of the antiquity of freemasonry. . Let us put the legend in its proper place in the list of our “Mabinogion”. I think?54
53 54
Gould. late as it is. . although many such authentic and invaluable documents lay ready to hand. to write our annals honestly and thoroughly and to present such pictures of our forefathers and ourselves. Gould pointed out that the wild and unsubstantiated claims of Oliver and others had caused the vital evidence of early freemasonry in Scotland to be overlooked. Let us show that we are not incapable either of self-analysis or of historical research . Early History. Stephens concluded his classic criticism of the Madoc legend with a call to arms which is as relevant to the study of the history of freemasonry as it is to many other areas of historical research:
The Madoc story has done us very serious injury. that the minutes of Scottish lodges from the sixteenth century.224
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of the Quatuor Coronati lodge were aware. . may we seek to study these records.53. . which Europe expects us to translate and illustrate: be it our pleasing duty to gratify the expectation . and evidences of British masonic life dating back by some two hundred years. . Let us do our duties. 381. . Thomas Stephens was urging his Welsh compatriots to lay aside the search for Prince Madoc’s Welsh Indians. it is none the less a fact. We have an honourable history. . has led many critical readers to suppose that at best the existing society is simply a modern adaptation of defunct masonic organisations.
. as yet unwritten . 200-1. Madoc. . amongst the muniments in the old lodge chests . having been to draw largely upon their imaginations. . and to start investigating the real evidence for Welsh history which had also been neglected. . for however improbable. We have an ancient literature. only awaiting examination. 3.

P. Jack 1885-1887 (issue B). David. Macbean. John T. 12.
. 3: An Historical Sketch’. ‘A Masonic Manuscript: A fragment’. forthcoming in Ars Quatuor Coronatorum. Lodge Scoon and Perth No. 132-134. Leicester (1926-1927). Edinburgh: Her Majesty’s Stationery Ofﬁce 1982. Edinburgh 1958. 101108. Prescott. Smith. London: Thomas C. 3 (The Lodge of Scone. Dunbar. ‘Charter of Scoone and Perth Lodge. Williams.. Edward. The Early History of the Fortitude and Old Cumberland Lodge. ——. ‘The Master Masons of Scotland’. Scottish Architecture: Reformation to Revolution. Free and Accepted Masons of Scotland. Routledge. 1658’.. Edinburgh: Grand Lodge of Scotland 1958. ‘Lodge Scoon and Perth No. Bell. A. Customs etc. ‘“The Cause of Humanity”: Charles Bradlaugh and Freemasonry’.D. R. Douglas. The First Freemasons: Scotland’s Early Lodges and their Members. Edinburgh: Her Majesty’s Stationery Ofﬁce 1957. London: Fortitude and Old Cumberland Lodge 1900.. History of the Ancient Masonic Lodge of Scoon and Perth No. Gould. Mylne. Howard. George Oliver: Priest and Freemason.E. Edinburgh: Grand Lodge of Scotland 2001. 2nd edition. Accounts of the Masters of Works for the Building and Repairing Royal Palaces and Castles 1529-1615. Madoc: The Making of a Myth. Accounts of the Masters of Works For Building and Repairing Royal Palaces and Castles 1616-49. Constitutions. Manchester: Manchester University Press 1945. Paton. D.SEARCHING FOR WELSH INDIANS
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Bibliography
Anonymus. John & John G. Masonic Magazine 6 (October 1878). Year Book of the Grand Lodge of Antient Free and Accepted Masons of Scotland.. Edinburgh: Edinburgh UP 1995. forthcoming. Hughan. Deborah. ——. Robert Freke.. Robert Scott. Symbols. No. Knoop. The Master Masons to the Crown of Scotland and their Works. Edinburgh: Scott & Ferguson and Burness & Company 1893. Henry M. Transactions of the Lodge of Research No. Irthlingborough: Aquarian Press 1988. William James. Edinburgh: Grand Lodge of Scotland 2001. ——. Edinburgh: Grand lodge of Scotland 1958. Masonic Magazine 7 (September 1879). Imrie. A. Stevenson. Ars Quatuor Coronatorum 7 (1894). Crawford. G. Sandbach. Jones & Douglas Hamer. F. The History of Freemasonry: its Antiquities. Gwyn A. Perth: Cowan and Co. ‘Charter of Scoon and Perth Lodge. Jubilee Year Book of the Grand Lodge of Antient Free and Accepted Masons of Scotland. 2429. Thorp.S. ‘A Body without a Soul? The Philosophical Outlook of British Freemasonry’.D. 3: An Historical Sketch. Early Masonic Pamphlets. 1898. London: Eyre Methuen 1979. 1658’. Andrew. 146-148. Year Book of the Grand Lodge of Antient.

Expansions of abbreviations are given in italics. Original punctuation has been retained.preferred to the said ofﬁce. And from that of Kilwinning many moe within this kingdome Off which ther praceided the Abbacie and Lodge of Scone built of men of Art and Architectorie wher they placed that Lodge as the second Lodge within this nation which is now past memorie of many generationes. IN THE NAME OF GOD. Wittness that we the persones wnder subscrivers Maisters. and Mr off the said lodge in the reigne off his Majestie King James the sixt of blesed memorie. 3 (The Lodge of Scone). Crawford Smith. entered ffrieman measone and ffellow craft And during all his Lyftyme he mantayned the same as ane member off the Lodge off Scone So that this Lodge is the most fo mous Lodge (iff well ordored) within this kingdome Off the which name of Mylne ther hath contenewed severall gennrationes Mr Measones to his Maties the Kings of Scotland and Mrs off the said Lodge of Scone till the year one thousand six hundred and ﬁftie seven yeires at qch tyme the last Mr Mylne being Mr off the Lodge off Scone. Which is now ffour hundred thriescor and fyve yeires since or therby. ffrom the Temple of temples building on this earth (ane uniforme communitie and wnione throughout the whole world) ffrom which temple proceided one in Kilwinning in this our nation of Scotland. Who by the said second Johne Mylne wes be the kings own desere. But to our own recoon and knowledge of our predecessors ther cam one from the North countrie named Johne Mylne ane measone a man weill experted in his calling who enterd himselff both frieman & burges of this brugh Who in proces off tyme (by reasone off his skill and airt) was preferred to be the Kings Maties Mr Measone and Master of the said Lodge at Scone. AMEN. 1898. And his sone Johne Milne being (after his fathers deceis .226
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APPENDIX: THE SCONE AGREEMENT OF 1658
The following transcript is based on that in D. Perth: Cowan and Co. 45-47. but has been rechecked against the facsimile included in Smith’s book. The names of whose persones followes To Witt Thomas Craich measone & warden then James Chrystie James Wilsone Andrew Norie John Wast James Roch and Johne Young all measones frieman and ffollow crafts Who after ther true and laufull deliberatione wnderstanding that the said Lodge could not stand without ane Master Therfor they all in ane voice wnanimouslie ffoe keyre of wnion and aimity among themselves Did nomynat and mak choyce of the said James Roch to be master of the said Lodge dur ing all the dayes of his Lyftyme And the said Andrew Norie to be Warden theroff also during his Lyftyme or as the sd Masters and ffellow crafts ﬁnd it convenient And we the said Masters Warden and bodie of the said Lodge off Scone resident within the brugh of Perth doe bind and obleis ws and our successors to stond and abyd to the whole acts maid be our predecessors And conﬁrmes the samene wheroff the tennor of a part of them are to ffollow To Witt that ne frie man not residing wthin this brugh tak upon him to contradict any true thing that the ffriemen resident wthin the brugh speaks acts or does No goe to no other Lodge nor mak ane Lodge among themselves Seing this Lodge is prnll wthin the shyre And if eny frie man or ffellow craft tak himself toany other Lodge he shall not be hold in to
. deceased. and the decayed citie of Bertha when it stood And now at Perth heid bourgh of the shiredome therof to this verie day. As the Masters friemen or follow crafts did formerlie Whose names we know not. And during that ilk space the saide Masters fremen and followcrafts inhabitants within the said brugh of Perth wer all wayes able within them selves to mantayne ther ﬁrst liberties And are yet[?] willing to doe the same. freemen and fellowcrafts measones resident within the brugh off Perth That whair ffor semeikle as we and our predecessores have and haid..—To all and sundrie persones whome thes presenttes doe belong. And left behind him ane compleit Lodge of measones ffriemen & ffollow crafts wth such off ther number as wardens and others to oversie them And ordained that one of the said number should choyse one of themselves to succeid as Master in is place. And wes wpheld be the Kings of Scotland for the tyme both at Scone. History of the Ancient Masonic Lodge of Scoon and Perth No.

to put the foirsd act to executione (with our consent . And Lastlie Wee and all of ws off ane mind consent and assent doe bind and obleidge ws and our successoris to mantayne and wphold the haill liberties and previledges of the said Lodge of Scone as ane ancient frie Lodge ffor entering and passing within our selves as the bodie thereof residing within the brugh of Perth as sd is: And that soe long as the Sun ryseth in the East and setteth in the west as we wold wish the blessing of God to attend ws in all our Wayes and actiones. G. and a number are illegible. Donaldson / D. the records thereof. Roch_Mr Measone / James Chrystie / John Strachane / Lawrence Chapman / Androw Christie / Matthow Hay / Henie Mateson / Andrw Stewart / Thomas Craigdellie / Johne Mill / John Watson / A. Clerk to.agst the transgressoris. In the facsimile they are in a different order. and keeper of.SEARCHING FOR WELSH INDIANS
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returne ever againe to this Lodge til he ﬁrst pay the triple off that which he payed either to our Lodge or to the Lodge wher he was Last And to be put cleane fro other company of the Lodge he was last in And to suffer the Law of our Lodge at our pleasure Lykas we doe conferme the said James Roch Mr off the said Lodge And Andrew Norie Warden ﬁrst with the consent of ws all ffor themselves and ther successores foirsd. but given in Smith’s transcript as Jajvjc] and fﬁftie eight yeires [The signatures are given in Smith’s transcript as follows.L. Ro Alison. Fyffe / Andro Norie Warden / Will Graham / John Newton / C. Massone / A Ritchie / Alexander Chrystie / Androw Norie / Johne Haggarrtt / James Irvine / Matthew Imrie / Thomas Roch / John Robertsone / Robert Strachane / James Roch. By me. here printed horizontally for reasons of space] J. Dobie Endorsement Att Edinburgh. Imvijc and fourty two years. Rattray / Alex Ritchie / Ja. In Testimony whereof we have submit it the samene with our hands Att Perth the twentie fourt day of December [illegible in facsimile. The Which day The within contract and agreement was presented by Gideon Shaw. yor / James Alexander / James Gou / Matthew Barlan / M. Clerk
. by their order. with ffourtie shilling at ther ﬁrst incomeing to the Lodge besyd the dews thereof And yt non shall be holdin to be caur for others but if they doe not imediatlie pay the sowmes afor sd they are to have a cautioner not belonging to the sd Lodge for the dew and lawfull payment thereof ffythlie that no entered prenteis shall leave his Master or Masters to tak any work or task work aboue ffortie shilling scottis nor tak a preintis And if they doe in the contrair they are to be debarred from the libertie of the said Lodge as ane fellow craft in all tyme to come. Esqr. And tht everie entered prenteis shall pay Tuentie merkis money. and Recorded in the books of the Grand Lodge of free and accepted masons in Scotland. Broune / James Whytte / Wal Thomson / David Cochren / John Condie / Edward Kicking / Andrew Buchan / And Ballanquall / J. As also the acts following To Witt That no master within the brugh or without shall tak another friemans work till he ﬁrst give it over and be payd for what is done Secondlie that no Master goe betwixt another Master to seik work ffrom any persone with whome the ﬁrst Mr is aggrieing till once he quyt the bargeane Thirdlie That no frieman tak another friemans prenteis or journeyman to work with him either belonging to this Lodge or an other except they have ane frie discharge from ther Master nor resave any entered or wnentered except for twenty dayes space onlie And if they be dischargd of ther Master they are to have ther vott in the Lodge and Law thereof iff they serve heirefter ffourthlie That all ffellow crafts that are past in this Lodge pay to the Master Warden and ffollow crafts off the samene The sowm off Sixteine Pund scottis money besyd the gloves and dewes therof with Thrie Pund scottis at ther ﬁrst incoming to the Lodge efter they are past. the 19th day of May. Vertical in original.

is something that will make the analysis much richer and more balanced. says Godwin. 153). a trancelike atmosphere of suspended excitement beyond words or the rational mind. Godwin is right in addressing the fact that the emotions. Godwin describes the Hypnerotomachia as a ‘single. and so on. and ends with chapters on ‘The Birth of Opera’ and the architecture and gardens of ‘Versailles and After’. Godwin even suggest that ‘the aesthetic movement known as Mannerism has also been latent within Colonna’s dream’ (p. This impression is not by chance. 159). ‘is a mood that descends especially on the solitary visitor. and the ‘Joyous Festivals’.und Wunderkammern in which extravagant people store their private collections. the author tells us that it is not possible to analyze these artifacts rationally. the ‘Marvels of Art and Nature’. Godwin draws a comparison between magical gardens and Christian churches and asks ‘theologians and scholars [to] deliberately set their learning aside in
. because Godwin makes clear that to understand the peculiar mood of Renaissance pagan imagination. when consciousness was less rigidiﬁed. The problem I have with Godwin’s methodology is that he wants to go beyond that. ‘The garden magic’. For instance. following the sentence I just quoted. with living statues that are about to speak to the visitor. since ‘[e]rudition and scholarship play no role in the mildly trancelike state of openness to its wonders. strange Kunst. and impressions of the scholar are an important—and often marginalized—element of his or her analysis.BOOK REVIEW SECTION
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Christian intellectuals. leaving no doubt of the presence of Pan and his retinue’ (p. an interpretation that would need further evidencing. describes the ‘Enchantment of Public Spheres’. intricate knotwork [of] all the threads of early Renaissance’. After having presented the Hypnerotomachia as an ‘attempt to re-make the world in a form nearer to the heart’s desire’ (p. 37). scholars have to be open to the sensual and bodily impression of the phenomena they study. Godwin devotes the rest of his study to a detailed description of how Renaissance culture pursued this task. aided by one’s own casual associations’ (p. it must have been stronger. Repeatedly. In earlier times. associations. from the ‘elitist thrill of humanistic learning’. This makes for fascinating reading that at times resembles a guided tour through the fantastic world of a bygone culture. In well-written and richly illustrated chapters he takes the reader on a trip through the ‘Private Microcosm’. While these elements without doubt can be found in this work. 37). and the magic gardens. the uneasiness with regard to scholasticism and Catholic orthodoxy. to the new regard of bodily pleasures and a sense for living nature (p. 39). To be open to them and reﬂect upon them. Of course. the ‘Grotesqueries’.

It might be argued that Godwin stepped into the second trap of theological discourse. expresses itself in Beliore by giving the Nine Muses . . 89 he says that the ‘psychological truth. However. for a positive evaluation of Jung’s approach see also p. the Renaissance is one of the best examples of a visual culture. which to an extent is timeless’ (p. Without making his methodological framework explicit. from art. Viewed from this perspective. Sometimes it seems as if he shares the assumptions of Rudolf Otto and his mystical school. if we approach religion as a public issue. we will get a quite different picture of early modern paganism. 1)—I note in passing. . the lineaments of desire’ (italics mine. instead of (implicitly) harking back to precarious religionist approaches.230
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favor of a more unmediated experience of the holy’ (italics mine). he insists that ‘studying the Star Castle in an American library might well be different from what one feels in the castle itself. though. 37. Godwin could have strengthened his argument by drawing on methodological considerations elaborated on the ﬁeld of visual or material culture. with action and communication as major instruments of analysis. Jung called the anima. namely the trap of “singularization”. we have to read between the lines. When Godwin insists on the fact that no one believed in those gods but ‘many people acted as though they existed’ (p. while ‘religion’ is something quite different? Again. Identities are constructed in a complex
. These provide a framework of analysis that is needed to study religion as something that cannot be separated from the public sphere. namely in these powerful gardens. but gives them a pagan tenor.G. where the genius loci is exceptionally strong’ (pp. and on p. But since Godwin does not offer a rational analysis or ﬂeshes out his methodological framework. The unity of “belief—identity—person” is a concept that emerged in post-Reformatory times and it powerfully conceals the fact that there is no such thing as a ﬁxed identity. So. that behind every masculine achievement is the creative energy of what C. Godwin runs the risk of stepping into the religionist trap of religious studies. theological subtext in his book. or performative action. 80-81. 253). italics mine). italics mine). experience. In my view. that this sentence seems to contradict his notion that the gardens left ‘no doubt of the presence of Pan and his retinue’—it is clear that he follows a concept of religion that is focused on belief and inner states of mind. he is interested in the ‘developments and unfoldings in the World of the Imagination. body. there is a religionist or. rather. Testing Godwin’s methodology leads to another important question: Is it true that we can only talk of a pagan ‘dream’. I do not want to dismiss such sentences as mere religionist tropes.

The Pagan Dream of the Renaissance is an important contribution to an interdisciplinary study of Renaissance esotericism. and the alternatives to Christian readings of the cosmos and of history are a crucial element of Renaissance and early modern discourses. even if one criticizes the lack of methodological reﬂection and the religionist shortcomings in terms of analysis. one must be thankful to Godwin that he wrote this book. the scholar Godwin turns into an artist who calls for the appreciation of the mundus imaginalis as something that nourishes the artist’s soul. every chapter opens new perspectives and provides stimulating new insights. see especially those by Regina Schwartz. At this point. And since polytheistic paganism ‘can afford to be relativized and subsumed in a greater metaphysical whole’ (p. Kocku von Stuckrad
. Jan Assmann and Rodney Stark). Hence. The book raises important questions and presents a cornucopia of fascinating material that future research will have to deal with.BOOK REVIEW SECTION
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process of negotiation. Although it shows that the pagan divinities. Given Godwin’s enormous erudition and his courage to follow unorthodox approaches. 261) as a remedy to the illness of modernity and a way to be illuminated by the ‘one truth’. In almost Eliadian terms—and subscribing to Jung’s archetypal theory—Godwin prescribes the meditation and experience of the ‘superﬂuity of the past and the overwhelming superiority of its treasure’ (p. 260)—it might be argued. he is not interested in addressing them openly. 259). he contemplates previous readings of Renaissance culture and expresses his call to defend the Renaissance against misreadings that did not have ‘the slightest appreciation for the ﬁfteenth-century attempt to reopen a channel to the imaginal world of ancient paganism. this would have become much clearer. are ‘a hardy breed’ for modern scholars. but they also fostered pluralization and produced polytheistic alternatives that many—mainly intellectual—Europeans embraced. backed by a revival of Neoplatonic and Hermetic philosophy’ (p. indeed. that this is not true in the case of Plethon’s exclusive. If Godwin had given George Gemistos Plethon a more important role in his narrative. though. The processes of singularization are a signiﬁcant structural element of European history of religions. Although Godwin gives occasional hints to these issues. In the end of his book. it would be very promising to pick up the questions Godwin raises and confront them with the ongoing discussion about the concept of monotheism and its legacy (among recent monographs. totalitarian polytheism—Godwin calls the reader to reopen his or her senses to the archetypal whispering of Renaissance paganism. However.

as “Res Chymicae”’ (p. in qua opinione a ratione et experientia stabilitus et conﬁrmatus videor’ (see my article in Aries. and he understood the initials of the Brotherhood in this sense . 2:1 [2002]). to refer to Res Chymicae. that he did not deem the truth to be ﬁt for public consumption is shown by his words in a letter to Landgrave Moritz von HessenKassel. This is. 51). C. Furthermore.” a secret grouping of scientists and alchemists. have a manifold signiﬁcance in Maier’s work. has no basis in the historical data. should be the substantive and C. but the initials R. 53) is in need of qualiﬁcation. 42). in the beginning of which there is misery with vinegar. it is the “cruciﬁed rose” of Christ which the letters denote. or that he served as a Rosicrucian “agent” in England. Nevertheless. the passage in his Themis Aurea in which he says R. and which was associated with his death. the cryptic promise of the Echo Colloquii Rhodo-Staurotici (1624) that Maier will be rewarded by the Brethren with ‘great honours and communications of singular mystery’ is
. of course. Leibenguth also suggests that the quartan fever which afﬂicted Maier for many years. For example. Leibenguth follows Figala and Neumann when he states that Maier understood the initials R. nevertheless. C. which was carried out more or less contemporaneously with his own. and on this subject certain of his ﬁndings concur with my own research on the alchemist. iam ante in aurem Serenituri. where he simply states: ‘Quantum mihi cognitum sit de Philosophis R. . . in his vita Maieriana Leibenguth demonstrates that any belief Maier performed an important political function at the Prague court. also a reference to Res Chymicae in the sense of that ‘splendid substance which is passed from master to master. the statement that ‘for his entire life Maier saw behind this “Fraternity R. C. Leibenguth devotes some pages to dispelling certain myths that have grown up around the historical ﬁgure of Maier. indeed. C.BOOK REVIEW SECTION
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the next stage in his ill-fated quest for the Philosophers’ Stone (p. Nor are Maier’s public arguments championing the existence of the Fraternity in the Symbola Aureae Mensae a necessary reﬂection of his opinion. for the misery of earthly existence is ﬂeeting in contrast to the joy of eternal life. V:ae dixi. 52). In both Bohemia and England Maier ‘seems to have been surrounded by a somewhat dubious aura’ (p. 467). and Leibenguth presents a newly uncovered letter from Francis Anthony (infamous for his controversial aurum potabile) which testiﬁes to his close friendship and experimental collaboration with Maier (p. was a symptom of malaria—a common souvenir for German students in Italy (p. the adjective has a speciﬁcally Christian (and Lutheran iconographic) signiﬁcance: rather than a rosy cross. but in the end of which there is truly joy with gladness’.

only the wise can see their true intention (p. 65). 530) only adds to the confusion. the publisher of Johann Arndt’s work. According to Leibenguth. 74. by the eighteenth century Maier’s work was current above all in circles of anti-Enlightenment medievalist reaction (i.234
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decipherable only with recourse to the original German version of that work. between an Aristotelian psychology and Platonic idealism—and although on most matters Maier stood on the wrong side of history (as it seems). surely the most basic distinction between the teaching of
. for there Petrus Bonus argues that Ovid. With regard to Maier’s attitude towards Paracelsianism. Most signiﬁcant in this regard is the chapter on Mythoalchemie als Argumentationsschema. Virgil and Homer wove the secrets of the alchemical art into their stories and myths by way of an ‘ornate language’. the Gold. 518. and whilst this may be partially true of the post mortem reception of Maier’s work. Leibenguth’s abbreviated reference to the Latin text as the Echo Fraternitatis (pp. in which the author seeks to clarify the rhetorical and hermeneutic context of Maier’s alchemical interpretation of mythology. as a result. Leibenguth grants us new perspectives on the place of Maier’s work in the history of ideas. that he became inclined in his later life to a virulent antiCatholicism. Nevertheless. and that he railed against democracy in both the state and the civitas corporis humani. the fact that his work straddles the medieval and the modern often makes its categorisation difﬁcult. between the Copernican and the Ptolemaic cosmologies.e. The Margarita pretiosa novella (1330) is identiﬁed as a seminal work in this “mythoalchemical” tradition. Leibenguth recognises his attempt to demonstrate the compatibility of Galenic medicine with the new system commonly thought to be its antithesis. in so many aspects of Maier’s thought we see a man ready to compromise—between new-fangled Paracelsianism and the Galenic tradition. Furthermore. 13). as it stands.und Rosenkreutz). we would do well to remember that while he lived his main patrons were Erastians. and shows that he drew upon the central Paracelsian conception of the ‘Light of Nature’ as a principle both of form and of recognition (pp. 255) whilst utilising gnostic Paracelsian motifs such as the “inner Adam” (p. and the currency of his work in the circle of Abraham von Franckenberg (p. Maier’s work ‘exercised its inﬂuence above all in those opposition circles which set themselves in defense against an authoritarian Christianity and the authoritarian conduct of a centralised state’ (p. As well as offering new insights into the course of Maier’s life. 387). 92). Leibenguth also speaks of Maier’s part in a ‘theosophicalpietistic protest movement against Lutheran orthodoxy’. citing his vicinity to Melchior Breler. This having been said.

as Leibenguth proposes (p. as Hermes has shown. p. he professed the same magia naturalis as that practised by the Rosicrucian Brethren. 74). only the insane would speak of them as diabolical (Silentium post Clamores. nisi naturalis. and a lawful. 72)? After all. and whilst some may have been manifest and some occult. 75-78). it certainly cannot be said that Maier ‘did not deign to deal with concepts of natural magic’ (p. Thus Leibenguth errs when he blankly states that Maier was ‘opposed to the magia naturalis of Gian Baptista della Porta’
. see also the Septimana Philosophica. 311-312. there he argues that if we reason from effect to cause. Ibid. pp. fallaci et impia. pp. 177). quam damnat et improbat: Apollonium Tyanaeum in licita et naturali exercitatum fuisse. According to Maier. but Maier praised him as the equivalent of Luther who purged the ‘papist faeces’ from the realm of medicine. On the contrary. 1617. and has its roots in the nature of truth—as do many other artiﬁcia which may be found in the Magia Naturalis of della Porta and the De Subtilitate et Varietate Rerum of Cardano. For Maier natural magic referred simply to the application of a deep knowledge of the occult forces and sympathies present in Nature. his burden is to show that the Rosicrucian Brethren use only lawful and natural remedies. who in Maier’s eyes were chieﬂy occupied with the manipulation of astral virtues in both herbal medicine and chymiatria. In his defense of natural magic in the Themis Aurea he also calls upon the testimony of Origen to distinguish between a devilish. which was a gift from God to the pious (‘Nulla ipsis Magia in usu praesumitur. Further on this point. quae est scientia secretorum naturae. Erastus railed against Paracelsus as a restorer of Gnostic heresy and disciple of the Devil. the spirit which guided the art of the Fraternity’s pagan predecessors— Apollonius.BOOK REVIEW SECTION
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Paracelsus and that of Maier is the latter’s rejection of the tria prima (pp. the Brahmans and the Gymnosophists—cannot have been malevolent. bonis et eruditis a Deo conceditur’. He goes on to say that the art of predicting the future with the help of the stars is a gift of the highest God. 210 ff. these authors operated with the help of legitimate. eam distinguens a Daemoniaca. natural mediums. Similarly. 480. Themis Aurea. Pythagoras.. and argued that Erastus’ criticisms were most relevant to certain unlearned disciples of Paracelsus (Verum Inventum. in the 16th chapter of the Silentium post Clamores (1617) Maier inveighs against those zealous detractors of the Rosicrucian Fraternity who accuse the Brethren of practicing black magic. 1624. natural art such as that practised by Apollonius of Tyana on the other (‘de Magia naturali loquitur. 177). n. ut multi asserunt. 1620. rather than his endorsement of Erastus’ critique of Paracelsian natural magic.). et non nisi viris piis. 72). sic nos non negamus’. deceptive and impious art on the one hand.

is an important authority for Maier. Maier’s utterances in the Symbola Aureae Mensae concerning Pythagoras and the wonders attributed to him (i. Setting the Cantilenae intellectuales in the tradition of the alchemical Lehrdichtung. the same is true for similar comments found in the Silentium post Clamores. 17-18). This task requires. these musings can hardly be taken as a serious criticism of Leibenguth’s work. 9). and (as far as I can see) at this point the use of psychological or phenomenological categories becomes unavoidable. a ‘willing suspension of disbelief’ rather than the crusading iconoclasm of the Aufklärer. 1617. the researcher ﬁnds a ﬁgure that is ‘in danger of disappearing under a tangled mess of historicising legends of esoteric and mystifying provenance’ (p. and we should remember that even the theurge Iamblichus. 216. that goal should rather be to expose legends as legends. that Maier should voice criticism of della Porta in one place whilst citing him favourably elsewhere is merely characteristic of his nuanced and critical approach to received tradition. Leibenguth dis-
. who ascribed these miracles to Pythagoras. but these legends seem often to be associated with an impulse to establish authority (take. and whilst it may sometimes be irritating to read the same old tales passed off as historical fact. when uncovering the textual vestiges of Maier’s life. rather. In light of his positive evaluation of natural magic. At this risk of appearing pedantic. there remains a task of primary concern for our deeper understanding of the traditions we study. which achieves its goals admirably. 73). be it of the reﬂective or the unreﬂective kind? It is true that. After the essential work of determining the often complex distinction between legend and historical fact. for example. whilst remaining indifferent to the question of their continued survival—for what would be left of many esoteric traditions (and I refer here in particular to alchemy and Rosicrucianism) were they to be purged of legend. In any case. pp. namely the identiﬁcation of the underlying logic of such lore and the forces contributing to its formation. the grandiose and conspiratorial caricatures of Maier as “Rosicrucian agent”) which is itself deserving of investigation. in the words of Coleridge. 4). One of the goals Leibenguth sets himself at the beginning of his work is ‘to contribute to the ﬁnal extinction of unreﬂective legends that have grown up around the secretive iatrochemist and poet Michael Maier’ (p.236
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(p. those involving his communications with animals) can only be read as a condemnation of diabolical magic. not of magic per se as Leibenguth reads them (p.e. I would like in closing to take the opportunity to argue that this type of demystiﬁcation should not constitute a goal of the historian of Western esotericism.